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The aim of this study was to analyse the changes related to the practice of physical-sports activities (P-SA) in adolescents owing to COVID-19 infection control and prevention measures. A total of 259 students (mean age=13.98+or-1.61 years) from a high school gave information on their physical-sports habits during the first year of the pandemic. The results showed a clear association between P-SA prior to the establishment of the state of alarm with P-SA practised after, and during the new normality. Also, a sporting club's membership was positively related to P-SA. Logistic regression analyses indicated that the duration of official training was the factor that most explained P-SA levels after confinement and during the new normality. In relation to post-confinement P-SA, males were more likely to practise more P-SA than females, but during the new normality, this factor was no longer significant and living with a family member at risk and the practice of individual sports became more important. These findings show that membership of a sporting club and commitment to training mitigated the negative impact of these health measures. Guidelines to ensure the maintenance of P-SA in adolescents should be established if similar situations are repeated in the future.
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Background: Five variants of concern (VOCs) have dominated COVID-19 disease etiology since 2020-Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron-possessing over 150 defining genomic alterations. Here, we used global proteomic and genomic approaches to study the host responses and selective forces driving VOC evolution. Method(s): We infected Calu-3 human lung epithelial cells with 5 VOCs and 2 wave 1 (W1) controls and performed mass spectrometry abundance proteomics, phosphoproteomics, and mRNA sequencing at 10 and 24 hours post infection. We additionally performed affinity purification mass spectrometry (APMS) by individually expressing all VOC mutant viral proteins (52) and corresponding W1 forms in human cells to quantify differential virus-host protein-protein interactions. Data was integrated using network modeling and bioinformatics to pinpoint VOC-specific differences. Four novel mutant viruses were developed using reverse genetics technology to validate the impact of specific genomic alterations. Result(s): We discovered VOCs evolved convergent molecular strategies to remodel the host response by modulating viral RNA and protein levels (most notably of N, Orf9b, and Orf6), altering nucleocapsid phosphorylation, and rewiring virus-host protein complexes. Integrative systems analyses revealed that Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta ultimately converged in the suppression of interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) relative to W1 viruses, but Omicron BA.1 did not, and Delta induced more pro-inflammatory genes compared to other VOCs. Altered regulation of ISGs correlated with the expression of viral innate immune antagonist proteins, including Orf6, N, and Orf9b;for example, Omicron BA.1 depicted a 2-fold decrease in Orf6 expression. We identified mutations that alter expression of Orf9b (N D3L and N -3A del) and the novel VOC protein N* (N R203K/G204R), and confirmed Orf6 innate immune antagonism using recombinant virus technology. Remarkably, Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 regained strengthened innate immune antagonism compared to BA.1, which again correlated with enhanced Orf6 expression, though dampened in BA.4 by a mutation (D61L) that we discovered disrupts the Orf6-nuclear pore interaction. Conclusion(s): Collectively, our findings suggest SARS-CoV-2 convergent evolution overcomes human innate immune barriers, laying the groundwork to understand future coronavirus evolution associated with immune escape and enhanced human-to-human transmission.
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The construction of Marginal Emissions Factor (MEF) and Marginal Primary Energy Factor (MPEF) time series of the electricity grid can be used as an effective method to activate demand-side strategies in buildings and thus reducing their carbon footprint and primary energy use. The robustness of a method to calculate MEF and MPEF in function of the load and the share of renewables of the power grid is tested in the present work. The construction of the MEF and MPEF signals is applied to historical and pandemic data sets to investigate potential differences. A specific analysis in the period of the COVID-19. Daily profiles of the marginal and average emissions and primary energy during pandemic are compared with the pre-pandemic period. Preliminary results show that the full pandemic caused a reduced electricity demand by 13% with a reduction of overall assocaited MEF and MPEF of 50% and 35% respectively. Robustness of the methodology is measured by an average year correlation being 85% for pre-pandemic period, whereas pandemic periods reach about 70%. Demand response strategies as activated by the marginal signals can be used to reduce the carbon footprint and primary energy use of the built environment. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee AEIPRO, Spain.
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Introduction: COVID-19 is an acute respiratory tract disease caused by the emerging coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Although several options for che-moprophylaxis are under development, effective treatment for COVID-19 is not yet available. Objective(s): To investigate the antiviral properties of synthesized silver na-noparticles (AgNPs) against SARS-CoV-2 using in vitro models. Material(s) and Method(s): This work synthesized AgNPs using an electrochemical method and characterized them using physico-chemical techniques (ICP-OES, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy). AgNPs with diameter sizes ranging between 2.6 to 30 nm and an average size of 6.2 nm were obtained by the electrochemical method. The cytotoxic effect and the antiviral activity of prepared AgNPs against SARS-CoV-2 were evaluated in vitro using Vero E6 cells. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay in the presence of serial dilutions of AgNPs. The antiviral effect of AgNPs was evaluated before and after the infection of Vero E6 cells by plaque assay. Result(s): Cytotoxic effect was observed at concentrations above 0.07 ppm. AgNPs exhibit a significant reduction of SARS-CoV-2 viral titer after a pre-post treatment strategy with inhibition of 96.5%, 64.13%, and 74.72% at 0.03, 0.017, and 0.008 ppm, respectively. Conclusion(s): Our results suggest that AgNPs could reduce SARS-CoV-2 replication with a low cytotoxic effect. Still, additional in vitro and in vivo studies are required to define its potential therapeutic application in humans. Copyright © 2023 Universidad de Antioquia.
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Background. The presence of coinfection and superinfection in hospitalized patients with COVID 19 varies, ranging between 3-14% in case of bacterial coinfection and 3 - 58% for superinfection. The objective of the study is to describe the incidence, type of infection and etiology in a cohort of patients with COVID 19 who required hospitalization. Methods. A retrospective series of adult patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID 19 who required hospitalization in the general ward or ICU and who presented coinfection or superinfection, between March and November 2020. The clinical and microbiological characteristics of patients who presented coinfection or superinfection are described Results. During the study period, 788 patients with COVID 19 who required hospitalization were evaluated. 6.2% presented coinfection, 49 coinfections were documented, 84% detected in patients who required admission to the ICU. The coinfections detected were pneumonia 74%, tracheitis 11%, urinary tract infection 2% and soft tissue infection 2%. Gram negative bacilli were isolated in 58% of cases (K. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, E. cloacae, E. coli), 29% were gram positive (S aureus. S pneumoniae, S. agalactiae). Among gram negative bacilli, 12% showed resistance to 3 generation cephalosporins (3GCephR), no resistance to carbapenems (CR) was found. Superinfection was detected in 18%, with 142 documented infectious events. 98% were hospitalized in the ICU with a mean hospitalization time of 9 days at the time of infection diagnosis. The most frequent infections were tracheitis 49%, pneumonia associated with mechanical ventilation 21%, bloodstream infections 17%, pneumonia 8%, catheter-associated bacteremia 3.6%, urinary tract infection 0.7% and others 0.7%. 80% were gram negative (K. pneumoniae, E. coli, E. cloacae, P. aeruginosa), 16% gram positive and fungi 4% Among the isolated gram negative bacilli, 3% showed 3GCephR and 9% were CR. Conclusion. The incidence of coinfection in patients with COVID 19 in this series is similar to that reported in the literature. Superinfection occurred in 18% of hospitalized patients, the majority hospitalized in the ICU. 78% of superinfections were from the respiratory tract. Gram-negative bacilli are the most frequently isolated germs in superinfection, with CR of the 9%.
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The emergence and occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of many people around the world, implementing different protocols to further prevent the spread of this deadly virus. Overcrowding is one of the common reasons for the spread of any virus or diseases. The researchers aim to create a system that monitors crowd density inside a building or infrastructure to avoid overcrowding. This system primarily utilizes ultrasonic sensors to detect entry and exit of an individual. The feedback will be sent to the user and the data will be used to effectively monitor the number of people inside the building. © 2022 ACM.
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Introduction. The circulation of SARS-CoV-2 virus variants raises concerns about their potential evasion of the immune response and associated clinical consequences. Decay in the magnitude of the immune response over time after completion of the vaccination schedule has been evidenced. The aim of this study was to evaluate the kinetics of neutralizing antibodies after vaccination and the impact of circulating variants. Materials and methods. Prospective longitudinal study' with a cohort of 60 Colombian adults' who received the complete BNT162b2 vaccine schedule' and were followed for 6 months to determine the kinetics of antibodies. Plaque reduction neutralization assays were performed with live virus' using the B.1 lineage (D614G)' and the Gamma' Alpha' Delta' Mu and Omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Results. Neutralizing capacity against all variants was observed in all individuals after 1 month of vaccination;however' a progressive decrease in neutralizing capacity was observed after 3 and 6 months. Compared to the B.1 lineage' the neutralizing response against the Delta' Mu and Omicron variants presented the greatest decrease' evidencing their immune escape capacity' followed by the Gamma and Alpha variants. The decrease in antibody titers was more evident in men older than 40 years. Conclusions. Despite the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines' it is important to improve and monitor them in order to improve the protective response they can offer.
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Background: Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, numerous drug development studies are being carried out for the treatment and control of this disease. This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antiviral potential of Corozo fruit extract (Bactris guineensis) against SARS-CoV-2.Methods: Corozo extract (CE) was prepared from the pulp of mature Corozo fruits. The total content of phenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins in the extracts was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu, aluminum chloride, and pH differential methods, respectively. The cytotoxicity on Vero E6 cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Antiviral activity was evaluated by pre-post-treatment using a Colombian isolate of SARS-CoV-2. Viral titer was quantified by plaque assay.Results: Anthocyanin concentration of CE was 144.95 +/- 10.3 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/L. The cytotoxicity of CE on Vero E6 was lower to 20 % at 15.6 g/L. Corozo extract inhibited SARS-CoV-2 at 15.6, 7.8, 3.9 and 1.9 g/L with inhibition percentages of 88.2%, 84%, 59.6% and 56.3%, respectively.Conclusion: This is the first report on the in vitro antiviral effect of Corozo fruit extract against SARS-CoV-2. Since this is a natural product, proven safe for consumption, in the future and with further studies, it could be considered an important functional food that can be useful in preventing strategies to fight against COVID-19.
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Background and Objectives: SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) and interest (VOI) pose a significant threat to public health because the rapid change in the SARS-CoV-2 genome can alter viral phenotypes such as virulence, transmissi-bility and the ability to evade the host response. Hence, SARS-CoV-2 quantification techniques are essential for timely diagnosis and follow-up. Besides, they are vital to understanding viral pathogenesis, antiviral evaluation, and vaccine de-velopment. Materials and Methods: Five isolates of SARS-CoV-2: D614G strain (B.1), three VOC (Alpha, Gamma and Delta), and one VOI (Mu) were used to compare three techniques for viral quantification, plaque assay, median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID) and real-time RT-PCR. 50 Results: Plaque assay showed viral titers between 0.15 ± 0.01×107 and 1.95 ± 0.09×107 PFU/mL while viral titer by TCID 50 assay was between 0.71 ± 0.01×106 to 4.94 ± 0.80×106 TCID /mL for the five SARS-CoV-2 isolates. The PFU/mL titer 50 obtained by plaque and the calculated from TCID assays differed by 0.61 log10, 0.59 log10, 0.59 log10 and 0.96 log10 50 for Alfa, Gamma, Delta, and Mu variants (p≤0.0007), respectively. No differences were observed for the D614G strain. Real-time PCR assay exhibited titers ranging from 0.39 ± 0.001×108 to 3.38 ± 0.04×108 RNA copies/µL for all variants. The relation between PFU/mL and RNA copies/mL was 1:29800 for D614G strain, 1:11700 for Alpha, 1:8930 for Gamma, 1:12500 for Delta, and 1:2950 for Mu. Conclusion: TCID assay was comparable to plaque assay for D614G but not for others SARS-CoV-2 variants. Our data 50 demonstrated a correlation among PFU/mL and E gene RNA copies/µL, units of measure commonly used to quantify the viral load in diagnostic and research fields. The results suggest that the proportion of infectious virions in vitro changes de-pending on the SARS-CoV-2 variant, being Mu, the variant reaching a higher viral titer with fewer viral copies.
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Background: Humanity has so far faced multiple pandemics, with swift propagation and high morbimortality rates. Objective: To compare the social and health impact of the Spanish flu of 1918 and SARS-CoV-2. Methodology: Historical-descriptive study on the 1918 flu and SARS-CoV-2. Data were collected on health protocols through the analysis of international organizations, books, and scientific articles. An interpretative analysis was performed based on the dates and events of the period under study. Results: The Spanish flu occurred in 3 stages, the first in March 1918 and the last in 1919. SARS-CoV-2 started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 but spread worldwide in March 2020 and a new wave is expected. As of now, July 2020, the Spanish flu has had the highest number of victims, although both pandemics have had worldwide repercussions, accounting for many deaths. Conclusion: The lack of knowledge about these diseases, the absence of treatment and vaccines, as well as the scarcity of resources for the high rate of patients’ needs have been a global challenge. © 2021, Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra. All rights reserved.
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The World Health Organization advised the public that physical distancing is one of the health protocols that can minimize the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The protocol requires people to adhere to a one-meter distance from each other in public areas, thus avoiding the possible crowd formation and further spread of the virus. A software was developed to monitor the physical distance and the crowd density of a specified area or the region of interest using You Only Look Once Version 3 (YOLOv3). Video recordings, captured using mobile phones, were extracted into frames. Each video frame is then processed to a YOLOv3 model for further object detection (here-human) and implementation of physical distancing monitoring. The selected area's crowd density is also computed while considering physical distancing guidelines. If the violations in physical distance or crowd density become alarming, an email will he sent to the authorities alerting them about the occurrence of health protocol violations. Based on careful evaluation, physical distancing and crowd density violation detection has an average of 0.86 for precision, (1.81 for recall, 0.83 for F1-score, and 0.83 for accuracy. The software also successfully alerted authorities via email of the exceeding violations. The efficiency and simplicity of this approach present possible solutions for the current pandemic situation.
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Most of the people nowadays use internet connection in their home, especially nowadays that most of the companies are forced to adapt to a Work from Home Basis due to the pandemic (Covid 19) to continue their business activities. This study assesses how vulnerable the default setting of SOHO Routers that the public/private telecommunication companies provide to their consumer. Furthermore, the study assesses how limited/outdated the protection of the router that is provided. This study uses a Kali Linux, a Debian-Based Linux used for Digital Forensics and Penetration Testing to test the vulnerability of the routers to network attacks. Network Attacks such as Deauthentication, Dictionary and Bruteforcing Attack, ARP Poisoning, etc. are performed to help identify threats that could compromise the network of the user and provide secure practices and solutions to help mitigate those kinds of attack. © 2021 ACM.
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When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern, the Spanish Ministry of Health called the health, labor, social security authorities, Labor and Social Security Inspection, National Institute of Security and Occupational Health, employers, unions, occupational risk prevention services, mutual societies and scientific societies of occupational medicine and nursing, to collaborate in the control of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in companies. The Occupational Health Group of the Public Health Commission of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, developed the Procedure for the prevention of occupational risks in the face of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which has been updated 15 times until the date. It contains the prevention measures to be implemented in the workplaces: organizational and collective protection, personal protection, especially vulnerable worker and risk level, study and management of cases and contacts that occurred in the company, collaboration in the management of temporary disability and, more recently, reincorporation and management of vaccinated workers. As a result of these cooperation and collaboration frameworks, a series of activities were deployed in the workplace, which are described in this article.
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When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern, the Spanish Ministry of Health called the health, labor, social security authorities, Labor and Social Security Inspection, National Institute of Security and Occupational Health, employers, unions, occupational risk prevention services, mutual societies and scientific societies of occupational medicine and nursing, to collaborate in the control of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in companies. The Occupational Health Group of the Public Health Commission of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, developed the Procedure for the prevention of occupational risks in the face of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which has been updated 15 times until the date. It contains the prevention measures to be implemented in the workplaces: organizational and collective protection, personal protection, especially vulnerable worker and risk level, study and management of cases and contacts that occurred in the company, collaboration in the management of temporary disability and, more recently, reincorporation and management of vaccinated workers. As a result of these cooperation and collaboration frameworks, a series of activities were deployed in the workplace, which are described in this article.
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The participation of citizens to solve public challenges is a driver to implement public innovation. Addressing new mechanisms and arenas that facilitate citizen participation is one of the challenges on the governments’ agenda, especially under changing, complex and social distancing scenarios such as those caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Therefore, digital platforms that promote co-creation between citizens, governments, and other actors in the countries’ innovation ecosystems, are becoming more and more necessary, but at the same time, there is a need to study their scope and contributions to generate transparent, equitable, inclusive and people-centered citizen participation processes. Indeed, the research aim was to make a trend analysis on the field integrating two methods: a literature review about concepts related to public innovation platforms: co-creation and citizen participation;and finally, a web content analysis on three platforms that generated co-creation exercises to solve challenges in the Covid-19 Pandemic. The main results show the need to study the challenges and contributions of digital platforms to make public innovation the result of a collaborative effort that goes beyond the ideation stages to implement solutions and generate public value. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Intended for Mexico, the 'Beautiful Patterns' young-women STEM bootcamp was created in 2017 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, finding a strategic partner in the Tecnológico de Monterrey, a recognized Mexican university. The idea behind 'Beautiful Patterns' is promoting the STEM majors as a future, promising and country-needed option for high school women students in economies like Mexico's where only 17% of the graduated engineering population are women. In 2021, this bootcamp will become international, including instructors and participants from Canada and some Latin American, European and Asian countries. In 2019, after having taken part in this program, 89% of the student participants stated that they had a different perspective about engineering and information technologies recognizing women's potential in STEM areas. The 2020 edition was canceled due to the pandemic of CoVid-19. In this paper we present all our results and conclusions of the 2019 implementation in Aguascalientes Campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey. © 2021 IEEE.
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IntroductionCOVID-19 pandemic and lockdown have provoked a considerable psychological impact in Spain. Some studies have reported greater psychological impact in the younger population. To date, no previous study has focused on depressive disorder (DD) patients based on their age.ObjectivesTo describe the psychological impact on DD according to age.MethodsCross-sectional study of an online survey available from 19 to 26 March 2020. Out of a total of 21207 respondents, 608 (2.9%) reported suffering from DD (mean age ±SD = 41.2 years±14.07 [18-82], 80.6% women). The subsample (608) was divided according to age, “youngsters” <45 (57.4%)/ “elders” ≥45. DASS-21 and IES scales were employed. Statistical analyses: Chi-square, t-Student test.ResultsBoth groups did not differ (p>0.05) in sex, having COVID-19 symptoms, having family/friends infected, or income changes. While youngsters were single more frequently (68.8% vs 14.3%, χ² = 179.7, p<0.001), elders had somatic illness more frequently (64.8% vs 39.7% χ² =30.401, p<0.001). Youngsters obtained higher scores in depression (4.69 vs 4.1, T=5.413, p<0.001), anxiety (2.86 vs 1.97, T=5.249, p<0.001) and stress (4.48 vs 3.17, T=6.355, p<0.001) DASS-21 subscales, as in intrusive (3.42 vs 3.05, T=1.984, p=0.048) and avoidant (4.64 vs 4.11, T=3.056, p=0.002) IES scores.ConclusionsDespite the group of elders with depression being more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease and presenting more frequently somatic comorbidities, younger depressive patients suffered more from depressive, anxiety, stress and avoidant symptoms and intrusive thoughts, in line with previous reports in the general population.DisclosureNo significant relationships.