ABSTRACT
A recent rapid review highlighted the negative psychological impacts of quarantining during coronavirus outbreaks on the public. However, to date, there has been no review of the psychological impacts of coronavirus on adults using research from community samples and not restricted to people quarantined during coronavirus. A rapid review was conducted to provide timely evidence about the mental health implications of coronavirus outbreaks on adults and to inform psychological research concerning the current COVID-19 outbreak. Three databases and Google Scholar were searched and a total of 27 studies were identified. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were identified during coronavirus outbreaks alongside concerns about becoming infected and family becoming infected. Those with pre-existing mental health conditions, young adults, women and those reporting physical symptoms appear to be vulnerable to negative psychological outcomes during coronavirus outbreaks. How people think about and understand coronavirus, and the coping strategies employed by people, may play a role in mitigating negative psychological outcomes. Results demonstrate the adverse psychological impacts of coronavirus outbreaks on adults and the need for continued investment in mental health services for the wider community during these times. Further longitudinal research is required to ascertain the long-term psychological consequences of coronavirus outbreaks. This review can be used to inform continued research on the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on adults.
ABSTRACT
Purpose : Bacterial keratitis is a prevalent eye infection that causes corneal opacification and purulent discharge, especially among contact lens wearers. Such infections recruit innate immune cells into the cornea, predominately neutrophils (PMN). CD177 is a GPIanchored protein expressed on ∼50% of circulating PMN. Proteinase-3 (PR3) is a serine protease that binds CD177 and is shown to be released from PMN granules upon activation or expressed on the plasma membrane (mPR3). CD177 PMN can be protective or pathogenic in various diseases ranging from IBD to COVID-19. On the other hand, elevated PR3 is found in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated systemic vasculitis. With little known regarding the eye, this study investigates the expression and role(s) of CD177 and PR3 in the cornea following bacterial keratitis. Methods : This work uses an experimental model of bacterial keratitis carried out in 8-week-old, female susceptible C57BL/6 (B6) and resistant BALB/c mice. The left eye of each mouse was scarified then infected with P. aeruginosa ATCC strain 19660 (5 μL of 1 x 106 CFU). Corneas from naïve, uninfected mice from both strains served as controls. Corneas were harvested at 1, 3, and 5 days post-infection (p.i.). Levels of CD177 and PR3 were determined at the protein level by Western blot and by phenotypic profiling using flow cytometry. In vitro assessment was carried out using HL-60, a human promyelocytic cell line, and siCD177 knockdown. Results : Results from the in vivo model showed no differences in protein levels at 1 day p.i., but significantly higher levels of both CD177 and PR3 in B6 vs. BALB/c at 3 and 5 days p.i. Flow cytometry data revealed CD177+ and PR3+ expression on both PMN and macrophages from B6 and BALB/c infected corneas with differential mean fluorescence intensities detected between the strains under normal conditions and following infection. In vitro results indicated that cell activation was altered following CD177 knockdown with differences in downstream signaling. Conclusions : As one of the first studies to explore the role of CD177 and PR3 in the pathogenesis of bacterial keratitis, our findings reveal strain-specific expression profiles for PMN that may contribute to resistance vs. susceptibility. In addition, we show the presence of CD177 PR3 macrophages. Overall, these findings may uncover novel therapeutic targets to treat bacterial keratitis.
ABSTRACT
Background: Cancer immunotherapies such as CAR-T-cells or bispecific antibodies can induce over-activation of the immune system, leading to Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS). The risk for CRS can be dose-limiting in the application of cancer immunotherapies. Similarly, infections, such as Covid-19, can cause CRS by uncontrolled immunopathology. Hypothesis: CRS immunopathogenesis is multifactorial and difficult to define. High IL-6 serum levels poorly predict the CRS severity. Quantitative integration of patient-specific factors to predict the individualized risk of developing CRS allows adapting the dosage of cancer-immunotherapeutics while minimizing adverse effects and, therefore, can improve the individual benefit-risk ratio and health outcomes for patients. Methods: We mine large longitudinal health records of patients with CRS across multiple conditions to delineate risk factors of CRS. We integrate individualized CRS risk factors into a mathematical mechanistic model for CRS onset. Results: Using a cohort of 39 000 Covid-induced CRS, we isolated CRS risk factors that align with risk factors of CRS during cancer immunotherapies. We developed a mechanistic model for cytokine dynamics and CRS onset during SARS-CoV2 infection or cancer immunotherapy. We run in silico trials on virtual patients and predict in silico the impact of individualized treatment on reducing adverse effects. Conclusions: We show a proof of concept that risk factors predictive of CRS can be identified on large-scale patient datasets to predict individualized drug effects.
ABSTRACT
This article represents a Work in Progress. COVID-19 pandemic has affected the way we conduct our lives across different segments of society. Higher education's organizational activities were rearranged as instructors and students were forced to switch from in-person to online and hybrid class activities. We examine how COVID-19 reshaped teaching at an engineering school in a large, public research university in the U.S. Midwest. In our earlier studies (during the pre-COVID-19 era) we found that faculty culture prioritized research over teaching. We also discovered that students avoided interactions with their instructors for several reasons, including the perception that their professors were too busy. Still, a professor's role at a research university involves teaching one to two courses per semester. With the advent of COVID-19, one of the many emerging crises in higher education was that instructors were largely unprepared to teach online and were left scrambling to adjust. Our most current research revealed that instructors had to develop proficiency quickly in various technologies to enable them to pre-record lectures, offer help sessions remotely, and design and administer exams. The learning curve was steep and led to a significant increase in instructor preparation time. This rearrangement of activities seems to have influenced professors' attitudes since they placed higher emphasis on quality of teaching, devoted more time to interacting with students outside class sessions and were more flexible in terms of students' academic challenges.
ABSTRACT
Background: Routine data have shown a stark increase in home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in Germany in recent years. However, the development of HMV in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown. Methods: Case numbers of initiations, control examinations, and terminations of invasive and non-invasive HMV in 2017-2020 were analysed. ICD-10 diagnoses of cases with an initiation of invasive HMV in 2017- 2020 were examined (data from the German Federal Statistical Office). Expenses of the statutory health insurances for ambulatory intensive care in 2017-2020 were analysed (data from the German Federal Ministry of Health). Results: Contrary to the trend in recent years, HMV initiations declined by 14.9 % in 2020, from n = 17,958 (2019) to n = 15,279 (2020). This development was due to a 15.9 % decline in initiations of non-invasive HMV. In contrast, initiations of invasive HMV remained stable in 2020, despite regional differences. For invasive and non-invasive HMV, control examinations (-28 % and -24 %, respectively) and ventilation terminations (-45.3 % and -15.1 %, respectively) dropped in 2020. Patients for whom invasive HMV was initiated had numerous comorbidities and care needs. Expenses of statutory health insurances for ambulatory intensive care increased from EUR 1.52 billion (2017) to EUR 2.16 billion (2020;+42.3 %). Conclusions: After an increase in control examinations and terminations of HMV in recent years, we observe a trend reversal in 2020. Additionally, initiations of non-invasive HMV decreased in 2020. Future studies need to explore the association between this development and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Early childhood education and care (ECEC) educators’ well-being and emotional demands during COVID require careful attention. This article explores the emotional demands experienced by ECEC educators in Australia during ongoing periods of lockdown. A survey was designed to gather quantitative and qualitative data and participants were asked to participate in in-depth interviews. Thirty participants were interviewed to explore personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic;of these, a selected sample of six participants is presented, drawing on Honneth’s (1995) as an analytical framework. The findings show ECEC educators’ struggle for recognition and how solidarity amongst educators emerged as a key response. Implications provide impetus for the active recognition of the early childhood profession. Solidarity as a new concept in ECEC includes the recognition of the early childhood profession at a societal level, recognising the significant professional work early childhood educators accomplish, and their struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. © The Author(s) 2021.
ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused shifts in terms of cancer management, but the impact of this has not been wellelucidated in a contemporary cohort of patients in clinical practice in the US. We hypothesized that closure of operating rooms would increase the use of neoadjuvant therapy (NT) during the early pandemic period. Methods: The nationwide Flatiron Health database is a longitudinal electronic health record (EHR)- derived database, comprising de-identified, patient-level structured and unstructured data, curated via technology-enabled abstraction. These data originated from approximately 280 cancer clinics. We compared patients diagnosed with non-metastatic breast cancer during the early pandemic period (March 1 - June 30, 2020;group 1) with those diagnosed in the four month period prior (November 1, 2019 - February 29, 2020;group 2) and those diagnosed during the same period one year earlier (March 1 - June 30, 2019;group 3). Results: There were 174 patients in group 1, 277 in group 2, and 348 in group 3. Overall, 591 (74.1%) were ER/PR+HER2-, 100 (12.6%) were HER2+, and 106 (13.3%) were triple negative (TN). Patients in the three groups were equally likely to be ER/PR+HER2- (75.3% vs. 72.2% vs. 74.9%, p = 0.68), HER2+ (12.1% vs. 14.9% vs. 11%, p = 0.33), TN (12.6% vs. 12.7% vs. 14.2%, p = 0.83) and to be high risk by genomic testing (either Oncotype Dx or Mammaprint;p = 0.72). While there was no difference in the clinical stage (p = 0.36) nor patient age at diagnosis (p = 0.76) across the three groups, patients diagnosed during the early pandemic (group 1) were more likely to receive NT compared to those diagnosed one year earlier (group 3);28.7% vs 16.4%, p < 0.01 (see table). The use of NT differed between the three groups in the ER/PR+her2- (p < 0.01) and her2+ patients (p = 0.05), but not in the TN patients (p = 0.61). There was no difference in the use of NT overall during the pandemic by geographic state (p = 0.32) nor practice setting (p = 0.23);NT was also similar by geographic state and practice setting when considering the ER/PR+HER2-, HER2+, and TNBC subsets. Conclusions: Despite similar clinicopathologic features as earlier time periods, there was an increased use of NT during the early pandemic when compared to the same period in the prior year. This was seen particularly in the ER/PR+HER2- group, suggesting an increased use of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy.
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic, which manifested itself during the early months of 2020, resulted in the activation of the expected official actors on a national and international level in policy, politics, the industrial military complex, pharma and medicine, among others. Being suddenly confined to a minimum of physical interaction, we found ourselves online among a concerned but enthusiastic group of artists, hackers, activists, scholars and other practitioners who organise themselves in informal settings to share, discuss and devise strategies of coping, care and action. They aim to apply their own artistic, activist or research competence to work through the complexities of continuously shifting information and circumstances. The pandemic is not simply an epidemiological crisis but a crisis of sovereignty. We refer here to the notion of sovereignty raised by Achille Mbembe to exercise control over mortality and to define life as the deployment and manifestation of power. Also the question of liveability comes to mind as introduced by Judith Butler and which the pandemic spread out in a wide spectrum, starting from the bare form of Who gets to live? - when it comes to access to medical support and decisions of care - up to What is a liveable life during a pandemic lockdown? In this way the pandemic makes visible and amplifies what was already there, a systemic plurality of inequalities and oppression enacted by predominant hegemonies. As Divya Dwivedi pointed out, the pandemic reveals a different sense of crisis, that is how the processes that have organised life (and lives) are distributed across the world and how some components of this worldwide arrangement have arrived at their functional limits. Therefore, once again, what has been unveiled are the material conditions of structural and systemic violence. Throughout this issue, questions related to temporality, agency, care and scale are addressed from artistic practice(s) critically reflecting on the entanglement with the virus. © 2021, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. All rights reserved.