Differential peripheral blood mononuclear cell reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 proteins in naive and previously infected subjects following COVID-19 vaccination

The decline in vaccine efficacy and the risk of reinfection by SARS-CoV-2 make new studies important to better characterize the immune response against the virus and its components. Here, we investigated the pattern of activation of T-cells and the expression of inflammatory factors by PBMCs obtained from naive and previously infected subjects following COVID-19 vaccination, after PBMCs stimulation with S1, RBD, and N-RBD SARS-CoV-2 proteins. PBMCs showed low levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 transcripts, which were not modulated by the exposure of these cells to SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Compared to S1 and RBD, N-RBD stimulation showed a greater ability to stimulate T-cell reactivity, according to CD25 and CD69 markers. Interestingly, T-cell reactivity was more pronounced in vaccinated subjects with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection than in vaccinated donors who never had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Finally, N-RBD stimulation promoted greater expression of IL-6 and IFN-gamma in PBMCs, which reinforces the greater immunogenic potential of this protein in the vaccinated subjects. These data suggest that PBMCs from previously infected and vaccinated subjects are more reactive than those derived from just vaccinated donors. Moreover, the N-RBD together viral proteins showed a greater stimulatory capacity than S1 and RBD viral proteins.Copyright © 2022

Anti-persistent adherence dynamic of the COVID-19 vaccines

This research explores the multifractal dynamics of time series of the daily number of vaccinees for COVID-19, considering six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece and Italy) using the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuations Analysis (MF-DFA). We calculate the multifractal spectrum f(alpha) and apply a fourth-degree polynomial regression fit to estimate the complexity parameters that describe the degree of multifractality of the underlying process. We found that the multifractal dynamics of all these countries are characterized by strongly anti-persistent behavior (alpha (0) < 0.5) a lower degree of multifractality, and small fluctuations are dominant in the multifractal spectrum. From an immunization perspective, it means that a panorama that encompasses the population's behaviour is marked by the dynamics of anti-persistent adherence to COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings confirm that the period of immunization of the population that adhered to the vaccination campaigns is short and that the application of new doses of vaccines must obey this phenomenology to keep people safe. In addition, we used the multifractal efficiency coefficient to rank countries that are most proactive in developing campaigns that promote greater adherence and loyalty to COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings indicate that Germany, Belgium and France were more efficient than Greece, Denmark and Italy.

Impact the pandemic by the new Coronavirus on the consumption profile of anxiolytics and antidepressants in the Primary Health Care of the Federal District, Brazil

The new Coronavirus pandemic provided an increase in psychosocial vulnerability and the aggravation of preexisting pathologies, such as depression and anxiety. This work aimed to evaluate the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of anxiolytics and antidepressants at UBS 4 in Recanto das Emas - Distrito Federal through an observational, cross-sectional study that analyzed the consumption of anxiolytics and antidepressants in the period between February and August 2019 and 2020, using the average monthly consumption and the number of visits. In addition, information on sex and age was also verified to draw a profile of consumption of these medications. Of the 7 medications evaluated, all showed an increase in consumption in 2020, this being 181.90%, 124.36%, 325.33%, 125%, 12.80%, 22.18% and 6.45% for fl uoxetine 20 mg, amitriptyline 25 mg, imipramine 25 mg, clomipramine 75 mg, diazepam 5 mg, clonazepam 2 mg and clonazepam 2.5 mg/mL respectively. There was a predominance of females and the population aged between 20 and 59 years as major consumers of these drugs. In general, there was a greatimpact on the consumption profiles of psychotropic drugs in the period evaluated.

Molecular Docking Study of Antibiotics, Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and [Eu(TTA)3·AMX] Complex as COVID-19 Biomarker through Interaction of Its Main Protease (Mpro)

Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) is a very recent viral infection and has generated one of the world's biggest problems of all time. There is no scientific evidence and clinical trials to indicate that possible therapies have shown results in suspected or confirmed patients other than the use of immunizations. Given the above, some substances are being studied to be applied to contain their spread and further damage. This work aims to perform an in silico study of amoxicillin, widely known as an antibiotic and used to prevent bacterial infections and a possible biomarker made from a complex with Europium (Eu). It was shown to have the ability to interact with the COVID-19 protein in Mproprotease as ligands. The study was conducted using the AutoDock Vina with Lamarckian genetic model algorithm (GA) combined with the estimation of grid-based energy in rigid and flexible conformation. Compared to affinity energy, amoxicillin presented â-7.7kcal/mol, which was better than its co-crystallized ligand in the study. The Europium complex, where its synthesis was also demonstrated in this work, presented energy of -6.3kcal/mol with hydrogen bonds and possible color change when UV light was applied. For the choice of the best poses in the simulation, the neural network parameter, NNScore2, was used. It can be affirmed that this study is still introductory but promising both in the treatment and identification of the virus. © 2021 Journal of Computational Biophysics and Chemistry. All Rights Reserved.

Inclusive Education in pandemic times: a systematic review of qualitative evidence

This study aims to characterize the current school scenario in times of pandemic, especially with regard to the school inclusion of students with disabilities in the context of remote classes. Thus, the objective is to analyze the school inclusion of students with disabilities during the COVID pandemic19. This study was based on bibliographic research, which allowed us to know inclusive laws, parliamentary reports and several authors that refer to the importance of keeping inclusive practices alive. Therefore, we are aware that the government spheres responsible for articulating actions in favor of inclusive education have been silent since the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil.

Managing the COVID-19 pandemic in a Portuguese School of Nursing: an experience report

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic, decreed by the WHO in March 2020, created enormous challenges. Our Institution was faced with the need to take measures to control the spread of the disease and keep the academic community safe, for which a comprehensive contingency plan was created so that the entire community felt involved and able to follow the proposed measures. Objectives: (I) Describe the process of building a contingency plan to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in a Nursing School;(II) Describe the implementation of the contingency plan and its adequacy, depending on the evolution of the pandemic situation and (III) Describe the main challenges encountered and the corrective strategies adopted. Methodology: Experience report of the construction and implementation of the Institution's contingency plan. A Contingency Plan Team was appointed that created a plan following the guidelines of the various health regulatory authorities, structured in four topics: 1) organization of structures;2) training;3) organization of academic and work activities;4) follow-up and monitoring. In addition, several guiding documents for safe practices were also prepared, aimed at readjusting the teaching-learning process and the safety of employees. Results: 1) organization of structures: An isolation room was established in each building, Spaces were reorganized to ensure safe distances;antiseptics were distributed;Signals was adopted to make the path;internal dynamics and specific procedures changed. 2) training: Clarification sessions were organized with teachers and online training for students and non-teaching staff, and face-to-face training for cleaning staff and support teams. 3) organization of academic and work activities: plan the beginning and breaks according to the maximum amount of people in the same room, fixed the capacity of each classroom. 4) follow-up and monitoring: a case notification/registration process was created and spread the message for all community on the website and by email. Conclusions: The contingency plan has responded to the Institution's needs. It was dynamic and flexible, always be adjusted according to national norms/guidelines and in partnership with Local Health Authorities. The implemented changes proved to be effective and supported the entire school community, which started to integrate the new rules into their daily lives. The very low cases report of covid-19 with the beginning in our institution, seems to reveal the success of the implemented measures.

Treatment compliance of patients with rheumatoid arthritis during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: Results from the covid in ra (COVIDRA) survey

Background: The outcomes of the infection by the SARS-CoV-2 in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases were largely unknown during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hypothesized that these patients were at higher risk of morbidity and mortality due to their inherent immune dysfunction and immunosuppressive therapy. Several rheumatology societies issued recommendations urging patients not to stop their anti-rheumatic treatments. Objectives: To assess treatment compliance of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. Methods: The web-based survey COVIDRA (COVID in RA) was developed to assess the impact of the first wave mandatory confinement in patients with RA focusing on 5 domains: RA symptoms, attitudes towards medication, employment status, physical exercise and mental health. The questionnaire was sent to RA patients through e-mail and social media of the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology and two patient associations;and it was filled locally at two rheumatology centers in Lisbon. Recruitment took place during June and July 2020. Descriptive statistics were generated by the survey software and were afterwards transported and evaluated using appropriate biostatistics software. Results: We obtained 441 valid questionnaires. Most respondents were female (88.4%), caucasian (93.6%), with a mean age of 58 (+/-13) years. The majority (57.6%) had longstanding disease (≥10 years) and were treated with csDMARDs (63.2%) and/or bDMARDs/tsDMARDS (23,7%). Only 14% (N=61) discontinued or reduced the dosage or frequency of their RA treatment. Most of these changes were previously planned by the attending physician (27.9%). Only 11 patients (18%) discontinued their immunosuppressive medication out of fear of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 (corresponding to 2.5% of total responders). Another 11 patients did so because they had no prescription, couldn't go to the community/ hospital pharmacy or couldn't afford the medication. Although these numbers preclude any statistical analysis, when compared to patients who persisted on their treatment, those discontinuing due to fear of contagion were younger (56.4 vs 58.5 years), all female (100 vs 86.8%), with long-lasting disease (≥ 11 years) (90.9% vs 57.5%), more frequently treated with bDMARDs (36.4 vs 23.1%) and presenting more symptoms of depression (54.5 vs 49.7%). Conclusion: Most RA patients complied with their treatment during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Portugal. Only a minority changed their immunosuppressive treatment due to fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Very similar rates of immunosuppressive discontinuation due to fear of contagion were reported.

Impact of the mandatory confinement during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic in Portuguese patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results from the COVID in RA (COVIDRA) survey

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the self-reported impact of mandatory confinement occurring in the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Portuguese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as a means to improve care during this and in future pandemics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The web-based survey COVIDRA was developed to assess 5 domains including RA symptoms, attitudes towards medication, employment status, physical exercise and mental health. The questionnaire was sent to RA patients through e-mail and social media of the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology and two patient associations;and it was filled locally at two rheumatology centers in Lisbon. Recruitment took place during June and July 2020. RESULTS: We obtained 441 valid questionnaires. Most respondents were female (88.4%), caucasian (93.6%) with a mean age of 58 years. The majority had disease lasting >10 years and were treated with csDMARDs (63.2%) and/or bDMARDs/tsDMARDS (23.7%). Over 40% experienced symptom worsening during confinement, almost half considered moderate or severe. Mobility restriction and increased stress, anxiety or depression were responsible for this worsening. Only 2.5% reduced or withheld their immunosuppressive medication due to fear of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2. After confinement, 16.2% of those previously employed were in a lay-off regime and 3% lost their jobs. Most employed RA patients practiced telework during confinement. The majority of patients decreased or did not practice any physical exercise (80.5%). Symptoms of anxiety and depression developed or worsened in 67.3% and 51.9% respectively, approximately one third were considered moderate or severe. CONCLUSIONS: Portuguese RA patients experienced significant symptom worsening, anxiety and depression during the first wave confinement. Only a minority changed their immunosuppressive treatment for fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Published literature on these matters shows results very similar to ours.

Diagnosis of COVID-19 in CT image using CNN and XGBoost

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected more than 3.6 million people worldwide and it is responsible for more than 250,000 deaths. A major problem faced in the diagnosis of COVID-19 is the inefficiency and scarcity of medical tests. The use of computed tomography (CT) has shown promise for the evaluation of patients with suspected COVID-19 infection. CT exam analysis is complex and requires specialist effort, which can lead to diagnostic errors. The use of CAD systems can minimize the problems generated by the analysis of CTs by specialists. This paper presents a methodology for diagnosing COVID-19 using convolutional neural network (CNN) for feature extraction in CT exams and its classification using XGBoost. The methodology consists of using a CNN to extract features from 708 CTs, 312 with COVID-19, and 396 Non-COVID-19. After the extracted data, we used XGBoost for classification. The results show an accuracy of 95.07, recall of 95.09, precision of 94.99, F-score of 95, AUC of 95, and a kappa index of 90. The results obtained show that the proposed methodology can be used as a diagnostic aid system by specialists.

Detection of COVID-19 in chest X-ray images using transfer learning with deep convolutional neural network

Over the years, Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems have been proving their effectiveness in classifying many pathologies. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, new systems were developed quickly. The chest radiography is one of the least expensive among the imaging exams that assist in the detection of COVID-19. Despite not having high sensitivity for pattern detection compared to other tests - such as ground-glass opacities in computed tomography - this test helps screen infected patients. Therefore, in this work, we propose a methodology for detecting COVID-19 in chest radiography considering three possible scenarios: the healthy, presence of COVID-19, and presence of other pathologies. We developed the methodology by evaluating transfer learning techniques in five well know pre-trained Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) architectures. For training CNNs, we used 1,932 healthy images, 3,651 of other pathologies, and 1,436 images related to the presence of COVID-19. We obtained an accuracy of 94.36% in the scenario COVID-19 vs. healthy, 99.80% for COVID-19 vs. others pathologies, and 95.01% differentiating in three classes. The results are considered promising when compared to state of the art since the database used in this work has the largest number of examples for the class COVID-19. © 2021 ACM.

COVID-19 prevention tips for beef farmers

The aetiology, diagnosis, prevalence, transmission, prevention and control of COVID-19 were discussed.

Prediction of COVID-19 using time-sliding window: The case of piauí state - Brazil

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a type of coronavirus recently discovered, called SARS-CoV-2. It has infected more than 20 million people worldwide and it is responsible for more than 737, 000 deaths. This work presents a study that explores linear regression mechanisms combined with a sliding and cumulative time window approach to provide inputs to assist in decision making for public policies, within the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic evolution, whether they are hardening or easing the isolation. Data from five states of Brazil were collected and applied a Ridge regression to predict the curve behavior of cases and deaths of COVID-19. As a result, an Explained Variance Status (EVS) up to 0.998 and 0.999 is presented, considering cases and deaths, respectively. It was concluded that sliding time window bring more information about the infection than cumulative, since public policy changes in a few time-lapse. © 2021 IEEE.

COVID-19 lethality in Brazilian States using information theory quantifiers

In this paper, we presented an overview diagnosis consider the time series of daily deaths by COVID-19 in the Brazilian States using Bandt &Pompe method (BPM) to estimate the Information Theory quantifiers, more specifically the Permutation entropy (Hs) and the Fisher information measure (Fs). Based on the Information Theory quantifiers, we build up the Shannon-Fisher causality plane (SFCP) to promote insights into the COVID-19 temporal evolution inherent in the phenomenology associated with the number of daily deaths well as their respective locations along the SFCP. Moreover, we apply Hs and Fs to elaborate on the rank of the Brazilian States’ real situation, considering the number of daily death due to COVID-19 based on the complexity hierarchy. The Brazilian States that are located in the middle region of the two-dimensional plane (Hs x Fs), such as Amapá (AP), Roraima (RO), Acre (AC), and Tocantins (TO) are characterized by a less entropic and low disorder, which implies in high predictability of the COVID-19 lethality. While, the Brazilian States that are located in the lower-right region, such as Ceará (CE), Bahia (BA), Pernambuco (PE), and Rio de Janeiro (RJ), are characterized by high entropy and high disorder, which leads to low predictability of the COVID-19 lethality. Given this, our results provide empirical evidence that the permutation entropy is a powerful approach to predicting infectious diseases. Dynamic monitoring of permutation entropy can help policymakers to take more or less restrictive measures to combat COVID-19. © 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Corrigendum to ‘Will COVID-19 affect food supply in distribution centers of Brazilian regions affected by the pandemic?’ [Trends in Food Science & Technology 103 (2020) 361–366] (Trends in Food Science & Technology (2020) 103 (361–366), (S0924224420304842), (10.1016/j.tifs.2020.05.023))

The authors regret to inform that there are some errors in the presentation of the results of the article referenced above. In Table 1, some decimal numbers are separated by a comma (“,”), while others are presented without a decimal separator, when in reality all results should be separated by a point (“.”). Hence the Table 1 should be changed as follows: The values of the “X” - “Y” axes in Fig. 2 and the numerical scale in Fig. 3 are separated by a comma (“,”), but must be separated by a point (“.”) as follows: [Figure presented] Fig. 2. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of fruits and vegetables marketed in the first quarter of 2020 in the different Ceasas studied. A: Principal Component Analysis of factor 1 vs factor 2. B: Principal Component Analysis of factor 1 vs factor 3. Ceasa-RJ: Ceasa Rio de Janeiro;Ceasa-RS: Ceasa Rio Grande do Sul;Ceasa-GO: Ceasa Goiás;Ceasa-PE: Ceasa Pernambuco. The numbers “1”, “2” and “3” represent the months of January, February and March, respectively. [Figure presented] Fig. 3. Cluster analysis of the different Ceasas studied based on the commercialization of fruits and vegetables in the first quarter of 2020. Ceasa-RJ: Ceasa Rio de Janeiro;Ceasa-RS: Ceasa Rio Grande do Sul;Ceasa-GO: Ceasa Goiás;Ceasa-PE: Ceasa Pernambuco. The numbers “1”, “2” and “3” represent the months of January, February and March, respectively. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Management of food security actions during the covid-19 pandemic

This article aims to analyze the intervention strategies adopted by public management during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce food insecurity, based on a case study in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte. The study used a qualitative approach based on Program Theory and the multiple streams model to analyze the actions. In the state, the pandemic brought a window of opportunity, showing the importance of public policy in the government agenda, such as the program “Restaurante Popular,” which offers low-cost meals, and favors quick response and adequacy of means of implementation. The study highlights best practices, inspiring actions all over the country. © 2020, Fundacao Getulio Vargas. All rights reserved.

A critical appraisal of evidence in the use of preprocedural mouthwash to avoid SARS-CoV-2 transmission during oral interventions.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to review and report the current evidence supporting the use of mouthwashes as a preprocedural protocol on dental offices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a secondary one that performed a comprehensive literature search of scientific studies published up to 10th August 2020 in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo) databases. The electronic search strategy was performed using free text and DeCS/MeSH terms. RESULTS: Only five studies were included in this work, despite 140 studies that were identified with the research strategy. In vivo studies were carried out in two works, in vitro studies were described in two papers, and a in silico approach was used in one work. No cetylpyridinium chloride studies were identified, while chlorhexidine and povidone studies were more studied. CONCLUSIONS: There is reduced evidence about how preprocedural mouthwashes decrease SARS-CoV-2 salivary load.