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<title>27 June, 2023</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
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<li><strong>I trust my immunity more than your vaccines: “Appeal to nature” bias strongly predicts questionable health behaviors in the pandemic</strong> -
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<div>
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Health care policies often rely on public cooperation, especially during a health crisis. However, a crisis is also a period of uncertainty and proliferation of health related advice: while some people adhere to the official recommendations, others tend to avoid them and resort to non-evidence based, pseudoscientific practices. People prone to the latter are often the ones endorsing a set of epistemically suspect beliefs, with two being particularly relevant: conspiratorial pandemic-related beliefs, and the appeal to nature bias (i.e. trusting natural immunity to fight the pandemic). These in turn are rooted in trust in different epistemic authorities, seen as mutually exclusive: trust in science and trust in the “wisdom of the common man”. Drawing from two nationally representative probability samples, we tested a model in which trust in science/wisdom of the common man predicted COVID-19 vaccination status (Study 1, N = 1001) or vaccination status alongside use of pseudoscientific health practices (Study 2, N = 1010), through COVID-19 conspiratorial beliefs and the appeal to nature bias. As expected, epistemically suspect beliefs were interrelated, related to vaccination status, and to both types of trust. Moreover, trust in science had both a direct and indirect effect on vaccination status through both types of epistemically suspect beliefs. Trust in the wisdom of the common man had only an indirect effect on vaccination status. Contrary to the way they are typically portrayed, the two types of trust were unrelated. These results were largely replicated in the second study, in which we added pseudoscientific practices as an outcome; trust in science and the wisdom of the common man contributed to their prediction only indirectly, through epistemically suspect beliefs. We offer recommendations on how to make use of different types of epistemic authorities and how to tackle unfounded beliefs in communication during a health crisis.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/y25bs/" target="_blank">I trust my immunity more than your vaccines: “Appeal to nature” bias strongly predicts questionable health behaviors in the pandemic</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Both a bioweapon and a hoax: The curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19</strong> -
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<div>
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Amidst the flow of conspiracy theories (CTs) about the COVID-19 pandemic, many were logically incompatible. We aimed to map the psychological profile of their endorsers. Upon pretesting for familiarity and logical incompatibility, we choose eight pairs of contradictory COVID-19 CTs. Across three studies, a substantial portion of respondents (40%-42%) endorsed at least one pair. In Study 1 (N = 290), conspiracy mentality and doublethink, but not preference for consistency, meaningfully related to endorsement of contradictory CTs; doublethink contributed over and above other predictors. In two following studies we introduced indicators of superficial (Study 2; N = 281) and analytical (Study 3; N=170) information-processing as predictors. The endorsers of contradictory CTs were more intuitive, prone to ontological confusions and pseudo-profound bullshit, less rational and less actively open-minded; doublethink again added to the prediction. We end by suggesting how the interventions should be tailored to address people with such distinct information-processing style.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/2m4aw/" target="_blank">Both a bioweapon and a hoax: The curious case of contradictory conspiracy theories about COVID-19</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: a systematic review</strong> -
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<div>
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Belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories can have severe consequences; it is therefore crucial to understand this phenomenon. We present a narrative synthesis of COVID-19 conspiracy belief research from 85 international articles, identified and appraised through a systematic review. We identify a number of significant antecedents of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs (individual differences, personality traits, demographic variables, attitudes, thinking styles and biases, group identity, trust in authorities, and social media use) and their consequences (protective behaviours, self-centred and misguided behaviours such as hoarding and pseudoscientific health practices, vaccination intentions, mental health, and other negative social consequences such as discrimination and violence). We conclude that understanding both the antecedents and consequences of conspiracy beliefs is highly important to tackle them, whether in the COVID-19 pandemic or future threats, such as that of climate change.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/u8yah/" target="_blank">Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: a systematic review</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Irrational beliefs differentially predict adherence to guidelines and pseudoscientific practices during the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> -
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<div>
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In the coronavirus “infodemic”, people are exposed to both official recommendations and to potentially dangerous pseudoscientific advice claimed to protect against COVID-19. We examined whether irrational beliefs predict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines as well as susceptibility to such misinformation. Irrational beliefs were indexed by cognitive intuition, Type I error cognitive biases, COVID-19 knowledge overestimation, and belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Participants (N=407) reported (a) how often they followed guidelines (e.g., handwashing), (b) how often they engaged in pseudoscientific practices (e.g., consuming garlic, colloidal silver), and (c) their intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Conspiratorial beliefs consistently predicted all three outcomes. Cognitive intuition and knowledge overestimation predicted lesser, while cognitive biases predicted greater adherence to guidelines. Cognitive intuition and cognitive biases predicted greater use of pseudoscientific practices. Our results highlight the irrational beliefs predictive of COVID-19 related health behaviors, with conspiracy theories proving to be the most detrimental.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/gefhn/" target="_blank">Irrational beliefs differentially predict adherence to guidelines and pseudoscientific practices during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Oligomeric state of β-coronavirus non-structural protein 10 stimulators studied by OmniSEC and Small Angle X-ray Scattering</strong> -
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<div>
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Members of the beta-coronavirus family such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS, and MERS have caused pandemics over the last 20 years. Future pandemics are likely and studying the coronavirus family members is necessary for their understanding and treatment. Coronaviruses possess 16 non-structural proteins, many of which are involved in viral replication and other vital functions. Non-structural protein 10 (nsp10) is an essential stimulator of nsp14 and nsp16, modulating RNA proofreading and viral RNA cap formation. Studying nsp10 of pathogenic coronaviruses is central to understanding its multifunctional role. We report the biochemical and biophysical characterisation of full-length nsp10 from MERS, SARS and SARS-CoV-2. Proteins were subjected to a combination of OmniSEC and SEC-MALS to characterise their oligomeric state. Full-length nsp10s were predominantly monomeric in solution, while truncated versions of nsp10 have a higher tendency to oligomerise. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments reveal a globular shape of nsp10 which is conserved in all three coronaviruses, including MERS nsp10, which diverges most from SARS and SARS-CoV-2 nsp10s. In conclusion, unbound nsp10 proteins from SARS, MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 are globular and predominantly monomeric in solution. Additionally, we describe for the first time a functional role of the C-terminus of nsp10 for tight binding to nsp14.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.26.546492v1" target="_blank">Oligomeric state of β-coronavirus non-structural protein 10 stimulators studied by OmniSEC and Small Angle X-ray Scattering</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Unraveling antiviral efficacy of multifunctional immunomodulatory triterpenoids against SARS-COV-2 targeting virus-specific enzymes</strong> -
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<div>
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may be over, but its variants continue to emerge, and patients with mild symptoms having long COVID is still under investigation. SARS-CoV-2 infection leading to elevated cytokine levels and suppressed immune responses set off cytokine storm, fatal systemic inflammation, tissue damage, and multi-organ failure. Thus, drug molecules against virus-specific proteins that play a role in viral inflammation and simultaneous act on the host pathways participating in viral inflammation, will provide an effective antiviral therapy against emerging variants of concern. Evolutionarily conserved papain-like protease (PLpro) and main protease (Mpro) play an indispensable role in the virus life cycle and immune evasion. Direct-acting antivirals targeting both these viral proteases represent an attractive antiviral strategy that is also expected to reduce viral inflammation. The present study has evaluated the antiviral and anti-inflammatory potential of natural triterpenoids: azadirachtin, withanolide_A, and isoginkgetin. These molecules inhibit the Mpro and PLpro proteolytic activities with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) values ranging from 1.42 to 32.7 M. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) analysis validated the binding of these compounds to Mpro and PLpro. As expected, the two compounds, withanolide_A and azadirachtin exhibit potent antiviral activity with half-maximum effective concentration (EC50) values of 21.73 M and 31.19 M, respectively. The anti-inflammatory role of azadirachtin and withanolide_A when assessed using HEK293T cells were found to significantly reduce the levels of CXCL10, TNF, IL6, and IL8 cytokines, which are elevated in severe cases of COVID-19. Interestingly, azadirachtin and withanolide_A were also found to rescue the decreased type-I interferon response (IFN-1). The results of this study clearly highlight the role of triterpenoids as effective antiviral molecules that target SARS-CoV-2 specific enzymes and also host immune pathways involved in virus mediated inflammation.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.24.546363v1" target="_blank">Unraveling antiviral efficacy of multifunctional immunomodulatory triterpenoids against SARS-COV-2 targeting virus-specific enzymes</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>A pseudovirus-based method to dynamically mimic SARS-CoV-2-associated cell-to-cell fusion and transmission</strong> -
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<div>
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SARS-CoV-2 has caused the global tremendous loss and continues to evolve to generate variants. Entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the host cells is primarily mediated by Spike (S), which binds to the host receptor hACE2 and initiates virus-cell membrane fusion. Cell fusion contributes to viral entry, cell-to-cell transmission and tissue damage in COVID-19 patients. Many reporter assays have been developed to study S-mediated cell fusion by equally coculturing S-expressing cells and hACE2-positive cells. However, these strategies cannot fully simulate cell-to-cell fusion and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection, in which virions from a single target cell transmit to the neighbor cells and induce syncytia formation. Here, we design a pseudovirus-based method to dynamically mimic cell-to-cell fusion and transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We coculture a small number of pseudovirus-producing 293FT cells and a large number of hACE2-expressing 293T cells, and demonstrate that a single cell producing S-pseudotyped virions can induce significant syncytia of hACE2-positive cells. This pseudovirus-based method is a powerful tool to screen and estimate potential inhibitors of S-driven syncytia. Moreover, this strategy can also be utilized to explore fusogenic ability of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Together, the pseudovirus-based method we report here will be beneficial to drug screening and scientific research against SARS-CoV-2 or future emerging coronavirus.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.26.546514v1" target="_blank">A pseudovirus-based method to dynamically mimic SARS-CoV-2-associated cell-to-cell fusion and transmission</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Solitary Silence and Social Sounds: Music influences mental imagery, inducing thoughts of social interactions</strong> -
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<div>
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The COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by a marked increase in the use of music listening for self-regulation. During these challenging times, listeners reported they used music "to keep them company"; indicating that they may have turned to music for social solace. However, whether this is simply a figure of speech or an empirically observable effect on social thought was previously unclear. In three experiments, six hundred participants were presented with silence or task-irrelevant music in Italian, Spanish, or Swedish while performing a directed mental-imagery task in which they imagined a journey towards a topographical landmark. To control for a possible effect of vocals on imagined content, the music was presented with or without vocals to the participants, of which half were native speakers and the other half non-speakers of the respective languages. Music, compared to silence, led to more vivid imagination and changes in imagined content. Specifically, social interaction emerged as a clear thematic cluster in participants' descriptions of their imagined content through Latent Dirichlet Allocation. Moreover, Bayesian Mixed effects models revealed that music significantly increased imagined social content compared to silence conditions. This effect remained robust irrespective of vocals or language comprehension. Using stable diffusion, we generated visualisations of participants' imagined content. In a fourth experiment, a new group of participants was able to use these visualisations to differentiate between content imagined during music listening and that of the silence condition, but only when listening to the associated music. Results converge to show that music, indeed, can be good company.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.22.546175v1" target="_blank">Solitary Silence and Social Sounds: Music influences mental imagery, inducing thoughts of social interactions</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Regime type and Data Manipulation: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
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<div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Autocratic and democratic leaders have an incentive to misreport data that may reveal policy failure. However, it is easier for autocratic leaders to fabricate data because they are not subject to scrutiny from media, opposition parties, and civil society. This suggests that autocratic governments are more likely to manipulate policy-relevant statistics than democratic governments. It is inherently difficult to test that claim because researchers typically do not have access to data from sources other than the government. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between regime type and data manipulation because of its widespread impact, as well as the ability to compare reported with excess deaths and test for statistical anomalies in reported data. Based on regressions for undercounting and statistical irregularities that take into account unintentional mismeasurement, I find that autocratic governments are more likely to deliberately under-report the impact of COVID-19 than their democratic counterparts.
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</p>
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.11.22283310v2" target="_blank">Regime type and Data Manipulation: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Regime type and Data Manipulation: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
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<div>
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Autocratic and democratic leaders have an incentive to misreport data that may reveal policy failure. However, it is easier for autocratic leaders to fabricate data because they are not subject to scrutiny from media, opposition parties, and civil society. This suggests that autocratic governments are more likely to manipulate policy-relevant statistics than democratic governments. It is inherently difficult to test that claim because researchers typically do not have access to data from sources other than the government. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between regime type and data manipulation because of its widespread impact, as well as the ability to compare reported with excess deaths and test for statistical anomalies in reported data. Based on regressions for undercounting and statistical irregularities that take into account unintentional mismeasurement, I find that autocratic governments are more likely to deliberately under-report the impact of COVID-19 than their democratic counterparts.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/dv7q2/" target="_blank">Regime type and Data Manipulation: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Classification of patients with COVID-19 by blood RNA endotype: A prospective cohort study</strong> -
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<div>
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Background: Although the development of vaccines has considerably reduced the severity of COVID-19, its incidence is still high. Hence, a targeted approach based on RNA endotypes of a population should be developed to help design biomarker-based therapies for COVID-19. Objectives: We evaluated the major RNAs transcribed in blood cells during COVID-19 using PCR to further elucidate its pathogenesis and determine predictive phenotypes in COVID-19 patients. Study design: In a discovery cohort of 40 patients with COVID-19, 26,354 RNAs were measured on day 1 and day 7. Five RNAs associated with disease severity and prognosis were derived. In a validation cohort of 153 patients with COVID-19 treated in the intensive care unit, we focused on prolactin (PRL), and toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) among RNAs, which have a strong association with prognosis, and evaluated the accuracy for predicting survival of PRL-to-TL3 ratios (PRL/TLR3) with the areas under the ROC curves (AUC). The validation cohort was divided into two groups based on the cut-off value in the ROC curve with the maximum AUC. The two groups were defined by high PRL/TLR3 (n=47) and low PRL/TLR3 groups (n=106) and the clinical outcomes were compared. Results: In the validation cohort, the AUC for PRL/TLR3 was 0.79, showing superior prognostic ability compared to severity scores such as APACHE II and SOFA. The high PRL/TLR3 group had a significantly higher 28-day mortality than the low PRL/TLR3 group (17.0% vs 0.9%, P<0.01). Conclusions: A new RNA endotype classified using high PRL/TLR3 was associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.22.546100v1" target="_blank">Classification of patients with COVID-19 by blood RNA endotype: A prospective cohort study</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Neuropsychiatric disorders as risk factors and consequences of COVID-19: A Mendelian randomization study</strong> -
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<div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Background More than 180 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide. It has been proposed that neuropsychiatric disorders may be risk factors and/or consequences of COVID-19 infection. However, observational studies could be affected by confounding bias. Methods We performed bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate causal relationships between liability to COVID-19 (and severe/critical infection) and a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders or traits. We employed GWAS summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. A variety of MR methods including those accounting for horizontal pleiotropy were employed. Results Overall, we observed evidence that liability to COVID-19 or severe infection may be causally associated with higher risks of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder (BD) (especially BD II), schizophrenia (SCZ), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and suicidal thought (ST) when compared to the general population. On the other hand, liability to a few psychiatric traits/disorders, for example ADHD, alcohol and opioid use disorders may be causally associated with higher risks of COVID-19 infection or severe disease. In genetic correlation analysis, cannabis use disorder, ADHD, and anxiety showed significant and positive genetic correlation with critical or hospitalized infection. All the above findings passed multiple testing correction at a false discovery rate (FDR)<0.05. For pneumonia, in general we observed a different pattern of causal associations. We observed bi-directional positive associations with depression- and anxiety-related phenotypes. Conclusions In summary, this study provides evidence for tentative bi-directional causal associations between liability to COVID-19 (and severe infection) and a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Further replications and prospective studies are required to verify the findings.
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</p>
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.21259609v2" target="_blank">Neuropsychiatric disorders as risk factors and consequences of COVID-19: A Mendelian randomization study</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Adverse outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 infected pregnant mice are gestational age-dependent and resolve with antiviral treatment</strong> -
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<div>
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SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with severe COVID-19 and adverse fetal outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Moreover, clinical studies assessing therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy are limited. To address these gaps, we developed a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. Outbred CD1 mice were infected at embryonic day (E) 6, E10, or E16 with a mouse adapted SARS-CoV-2 (maSCV2) virus. Outcomes were gestational age-dependent, with greater morbidity, reduced anti-viral immunity, greater viral titers, and more adverse fetal outcomes occurring with infection at E16 (3rd trimester-equivalent) than with infection at either E6 (1st trimester-equivalent) or E10 (2nd trimester-equivalent). To assess the efficacy of ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir (recommended for pregnant individuals with COVID-19), we treated E16-infected dams with mouse equivalent doses of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. Treatment reduced pulmonary viral titers, decreased maternal morbidity, and prevented adverse offspring outcomes. Our results highlight that severe COVID-19 during pregnancy and adverse fetal outcomes are associated with heightened virus replication in maternal lungs. Ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir mitigated adverse maternal and fetal outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings prompt the need for further consideration of pregnancy in preclinical and clinical studies of therapeutics against viral infections.
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</div>
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.23.533961v2" target="_blank">Adverse outcomes in SARS-CoV-2 infected pregnant mice are gestational age-dependent and resolve with antiviral treatment</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>Changes in Environmental Stress over COVID-19 Pandemic Likely Contributed to Failure to Replicate Adiposity Phenotype Associated with Krtcap3</strong> -
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<div>
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We previously identified Keratinocyte-associated protein 3, Krtcap3, as an obesity-related gene in female rats where a whole-body Krtcap3 knock-out (KO) led to increased adiposity compared to wild-type (WT) controls when fed a high-fat diet (HFD). We sought to replicate this work to better understand the function of Krtcap3 but were unable to reproduce the adiposity phenotype. In the current work, WT female rats ate more compared to WT in the prior study, with corresponding increases in body weight and fat mass, while there were no changes in these measures in KO females between the studies. The prior study was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, while the current study started after initial lock-down orders and was completed during the pandemic with a generally less stressful environment. We hypothesize that the environmental changes impacted stress levels and may explain the failure to replicate our results. Analysis of corticosterone (CORT) at euthanasia showed a significant study by genotype interaction where WT had significantly higher CORT relative to KO in Study 1, with no differences in Study 2. These data suggest that decreasing Krtcap3 expression may alter the environmental stress response to influence adiposity. We also found that KO rats in both studies, but not WT, experienced a dramatic increase in CORT after their cage mate was removed, suggesting a separate connection to social behavioral stress. Future work is necessary to confirm and elucidate the finer mechanisms of these relationships, but these data indicate the possibility of Krtcap3 as a novel stress gene.
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.15.532439v2" target="_blank">Changes in Environmental Stress over COVID-19 Pandemic Likely Contributed to Failure to Replicate Adiposity Phenotype Associated with Krtcap3</a>
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</div></li>
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<li><strong>MOCHA: Advanced statistical modeling of scATAC-seq data enables functional genomic inference in large human disease cohorts</strong> -
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<div>
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Single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (scATAC-seq) has been increasingly used to study gene regulation. However, major analytical gaps limit its utility in studying gene regulatory programs in complex diseases. We developed MOCHA (Model-based single cell Open CHromatin Analysis) with major advances over existing analysis tools, including: 1) improved identification of sample-specific open chromatin, 2) proper handling of technical drop-out with zero-inflated methods, 3) mitigation of false positives in single cell analysis, 4) identification of alternative transcription-starting-site regulation, and 5) transcription factor-gene network construction from longitudinal scATAC-seq data. These advances provide a robust framework to study gene regulatory programs in human disease. We benchmarked MOCHA with four state-of-the-art tools to demonstrate its advances. We also constructed cross-sectional and longitudinal gene regulatory networks, identifying potential mechanisms of COVID-19 response. MOCHA provides researchers with a robust analytical tool for functional genomic inference from scATAC-seq data.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
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🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.23.544827v1" target="_blank">MOCHA: Advanced statistical modeling of scATAC-seq data enables functional genomic inference in large human disease cohorts</a>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Probiotic and Colchicine in COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Colchicine 0.5 MG; Dietary Supplement: Probiotic Formula; Other: Standard protocol<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Ain Shams University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Influence of Manual Diaphragm Release on Pulmonary Functions in Women With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: manual therapy; Other: breathing exercise and prone position alone<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study Evaluating SHEN26 Capsule in Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: SHEN26 capsule; Drug: SHEN26 placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Shenzhen Kexing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID-19 Bivalent (XBB+Prototype) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Bivalent (XBB+Prototype) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) (WSK-V101C); Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 vaccine(Sf9 Cell) (WSK-V101)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Phase Ⅲ Clinical Trial of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell) in Booster Vaccination</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: High dose of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell); Biological: Low dose of Recombinant COVID-19 Trivalent (XBB+BA.5+Delta) Protein Vaccine (Sf9 Cell); Biological: control group; Biological: Placebo group<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: WestVac Biopharma Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Impact Of Sensory Re-Education Paradigm On Sensation And Quality Of Life In Patients Post-Covid 19 Polyneuropathy</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Post-COVID-19 Syndrome<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: sensory re-education training; Other: traditional treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Cairo University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Comprehensive Imaging Exam of Convalesced COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; COVID Long-Haul<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Other: Ultra-High Resolution Computed Tomography (CT) Scan<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Johns Hopkins University; Canon Medical Systems, USA<br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UNAIR Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine as Heterologue Booster (Immunobridging Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 Pandemic; COVID-19 Vaccines<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Vaksin Merah Putih - UA SARS-CoV-2 (Vero Cell Inactivated) 5 µg; Biological: CoronaVac Biofarma COVID-1 9 Vaccine 3 µg<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Dr. Soetomo General Hospital; Indonesia-MoH; Universitas Airlangga; Biotis Pharmaceuticals, Indonesia<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Investigate the Safety, Immunogenicity of Bivalent mRNA Vaccine RQ3027 and RQ3025 as a Booster Dose in Healthy Adults</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: RQ3013; Biological: RQ3025; Biological: RQ3027<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Affiliated Hospital of Yunnan University; Yunnan University; Kunming Medical University<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) Transfusion to Prevent COVID-19 in Adult Recipients Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: COVID Convalescent Plasma<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluating the Efficacy of Remdesivir for Long COVID Following a Confirmed COVID-19 Infection.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV-2 Infection; COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: Remdesivir<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Derby; University of Exeter; Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit; University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity and Safety Study of SARS-CoV-2 DNA Vaccine (ICCOV)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Biological: SARS-CoV-2 DNA Vaccine (ICCOV)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Immuno Cure 3 Limited; The University of Hong Kong<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cupping Therapy on Immune System in Post Covid -19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Covid-19 Patients<br/><b>Interventions</b>: Combination Product: Cupping therapy with convential medical treatment; Drug: Convential medical treatment<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: Cairo University<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Open Label Extension of Efgartigimod in Adults With Post-COVID-19 POTS</strong> - <b>Condition</b>: Post-COVID Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Drug: Efgartigimod<br/><b>Sponsors</b>: argenx; Iqvia Pty Ltd<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NC Testing in LC & POTS</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome; Post Acute Sequelae of SARS CoV 2 Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>: Other: IV normal saline (1 Litre)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>: University of Calgary<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A comparison of sampling and testing approaches for the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in farmed American mink</strong> - Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in American mink (Neovison vison) is a global priority because outbreaks on mink farms have potential consequences for animal and public health. Surveillance programs often focus on screening natural mortalities; however, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding sampling and testing approaches. Using 76 mink from 3 naturally infected farms in British Columbia, Canada, we compared the performance of 2 reverse-transcription real-time PCR (RT-rtPCR) targets (the…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Modelling COVID-19 pandemic control strategies in metropolitan and rural health districts in New South Wales, Australia</strong> - COVID-19 remains a significant public health problem in New South Wales, Australia. Although the NSW government is employing various control policies, more specific and compelling interventions are needed to control the spread of COVID-19. This paper presents a modified SEIR-X model based on a nonlinear ordinary differential equations system that considers the transmission routes from asymptomatic (Exposed) and symptomatic (Mild and Critical) individuals. The model is fitted to the corresponding…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Licorice-saponin A3 is a broad-spectrum inhibitor for COVID-19 by targeting viral spike and anti-inflammation</strong> - Currently, human health due to corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been seriously threatened. The coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) protein plays a crucial role in virus transmission and several S-based therapeutic approaches have been approved for the treatment of COVID-19. However, the efficacy is compromised by the SARS-CoV-2 evolvement and mutation. Here we report the SARS-CoV-2 S protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) inhibitor…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Drug target of natural products and COVID-19: how far has science progressed?</strong> - The new coronavirus [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)] that caused a viral disease with a high risk of mortality (coronavirus disease 2019) was found toward the end of 2019. This was a significant acute respiratory syndrome. In a brief period, this virus spread throughout the entire planet, causing tremendous loss of life and economic damage. The process of developing new treatments takes time, and there are presently no recognized specific treatments to treat this…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Valorization of <em>Salmo salar</em> Skin Waste for the Synthesis of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-1 (ACE1) Inhibitory Peptides</strong> - One of potential inhibitors which is widely used for the clinical treatment of COVID-19 in comorbid patients is Angiostensin Converting Enzyme-1 (ACE1) inhibitor. A safer peptide-based ACE1 inhibitor derived from salmon skin collagen, that is considered as the by-product of the fish processing industry have been investigated in this study. The inhibitory activity against ACE1 was examined using in vitro and in silico methods. In vitro analysis includes the extraction of acid-soluble collagen,…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Towards an institutional “landscape” view of modern money creation mechanisms and some reflections on their ecological significance</strong> - In recent years, a number of different strands within heterodox economic thinking have successfully provided more empirically robust and sociologically informed analyses of how money gets created. However, there is a tendency within these analyses to discuss the different money creation theories and institutional practices in isolation, inhibiting a broader audience from grasping the whole institutional picture. By integrating contemporary heterodox theories and the latest empirical evidence,…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Coronaviruses SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 helicase inhibitors: A systematic review of in vitro studies</strong> - CONCLUSION: Evidence from in vitro studies suggests that helicase inhibitors have a high potential as antiviral agents. Several helicase inhibitors tested in vitro showed good antiviral activities while maintaining moderate cytotoxicity. These inhibitors should be clinically investigated to determine their efficiency in treating different coronavirus infections, particularly COVID-19.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Frequent brushing of teeth inhibits the dissemination of the SARS-CoV-2: the biochemical mechanism</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 virus is primarily transmitted through direct or indirect contact with the mucous membranes of the mouth and nostrils. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sputum with a high viral load suggested that maintaining good oral hygiene could be critical in limiting COVID-19 disease. Brushing the teeth frequently and regularly with widely available amphiphilic detergent, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)-based toothpastes could help in preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We proposed a community…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synthesis, structural characterization, thermal analysis, DFT, biocidal evaluation and molecular docking studies of amide-based Co(II) complexes</strong> - ABSTRACT: Many distinct amino acid and aromatic amine-derived transition metal complexes are used as physiologically active compounds. A few Cobalt (II) complexes have been synthesized by reacting cobalt (II) chloride with 1, 8-diaminonapthalene-based tetraamide macrocyclic ligands in an ethanolic media. These synthesized ligands (TAML(1-3)) and associated Co(II) complexes were fully characterized with various spectroscopic techniques, such as IR, NMR, CHN analysis, EPR, molar conductance, and…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synthesis, Structure, Hirshfeld Surface Analysis, Non-Covalent Interaction, and In Silico Studies of 4-Hydroxy-1-[(4-Nitrophenyl)Sulfonyl]Pyrrolidine-2-Carboxyllic Acid</strong> - The new compound 4-hydroxy-1-[(4-nitrophenyl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxyllic acid was obtained by the reaction of 4-hydroxyproline with 4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride. The compound was characterized using single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Spectroscopic methods including NMR, FTIR, ES-MS, and UV were employed for further structural analysis of the synthesized compound. The title compound was found to have crystallized in an orthorhombic crystal system with space group P2(1)2(1)2(1)….</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and Safety of Add-On Plant-Based Drugs for COVID-19 Patients: A Review of the Randomized Control Trials</strong> - COVID-19 caused by the infection of SARS-CoV-2 is still a global concern. WHO reported that from 13 March to 9 April 2023, there were 3 million new cases and approximately 23,000 deaths, mostly occurring in the South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, which is predicted due to the new Omicron variant, Arcturus XBB.1.16. Many studies have reported the potency of medicinal plants in enhancing the function of the immune system to combat virus infection. The literature review aimed to…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vitamin D3 attenuates SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein-caused hyperinflammation by inactivating the NLRP3 inflammasome through the VDR-BRCC3 signaling pathway in vitro and in vivo</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection-caused coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global crisis with no satisfactory therapies. Vitamin D3 (VD3) is considered a potential candidate for COVID-19 treatment; however, little information is available regarding the exact effects of VD3 on SARS-CoV-2 infection and the underlying mechanism. Herein, we confirmed that VD3 reduced SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein-caused hyperinflammation in human bronchial epithelial…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Altered Anti-Viral Immune Responses in Monocytes in Overweight Heavy Drinkers</strong> - Alcohol abuse causes increased susceptibility to respiratory syndromes like bacterial pneumonia and viral infections like SARS-CoV-2. Heavy drinkers (HD) are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 if they are also overweight, yet the molecular mechanisms are unexplored. Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from lean or overweight HD and healthy controls (HC) after challenge with a dsRNA homopolymer (PolyI:C) to mimic a viral infection and/or with…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Information-epidemic co-evolution propagation under policy intervention in multiplex networks</strong> - The emergence of epidemics has seriously threatened the running of human society, such as COVID-19. During the epidemics, some external factors usually have a non-negligible impact on the epidemic transmission. Therefore, we not only consider the interaction between epidemic-related information and infectious diseases, but also the influence of policy interventions on epidemic propagation in this work. We establish a novel model that includes two dynamic processes to explore the co-evolutionary…</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity and safety of heterologous immunisation with Ad5-nCOV in healthy adults aged 60 years and older primed with an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (CoronaVac): a phase 4, randomised, observer-blind, non-inferiority trial</strong> - BACKGROUND: People over 60 have been found to develop less protection after two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines than younger people. Heterologous immunisation could potentially induce more robust immune responses compared to homologous immunisation. We aimed to assess the immunogenicity and safety of a heterologous immunisation with an adenovirus type 5-vectored vaccine (Ad5-nCOV, Convidecia) among elderly who were primed with an inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) previously.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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