ABSTRACT
Background During the containment of COVID-19，the traditional face-to-face interventions conducted at the rehabilitation center were plagued by many limitations，while internet-based interventions can overcome the limitations of geographic location，working hours and transportation，with less medical costs. Objective To examine the effects of internet-based interventions on knowledge，attitude/belief and practice（KAP） toward rehabilitation exercises，physical activity（PA）level，and exercise compliance inpatients after PCI. Methods The subjects were 76 patients who received their first PCI in Department of Cardiology，Tangshan Gongren Hospital from November 2021 to June 2022. They were randomly and equally divided into two groups to receive either internet-based intervention with routine nursing（experimental group） or routine nursing （control group）. Before and three months after the intervention，the Rehabilitation Exercise Knowledge-Belief-Practice Scale for Patients with Coronary Heart Disease（REKBPCHD），the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form （IPAQ-SF），and Patients' Exercise Log were used to assess the KAP level，PA level，and exercise adherence，respectively. The impact of network intervention on exercise adherence in patients after PCI by univariate Logistic regression analysis. Results After 3 months of intervention，a significant increase was found in the average total score of REKBPCHD，and the average scores of the knowledge dimension，attitude dimension and practice dimension of the scale in the experimental group（P<0.05），and the increase was more notable than that in the control group（P<0.05）. Moreover，both post-intervention low PA level and total PA level in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group（P<0.05）. Both post-intervention low PA level and total PA level were higher than the baseline levels in the experimental group（P<0.05）. The post-intervention exercise compliance of experimental group were higher than that in the control group（P=0.003）. Univariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of non-adherence to exercise in the experimental group was relatively lower than that in the control group 〔OR=0.143，95%CI（0.034，0.594），P=0.007〕. Conclusion Theinternet-based intervention can effectively improve the KAP level toward rehabilitation，PA level，and exercise adherence in patients after PCI. © 2023 Chinese General Practice. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Since it was first identified in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged countries globally. To prevent the rapid spread of the virus, governments around the world have implemented policies such as closing cities and prohibiting gatherings, making direct communication and contact between people difficult. This has not only caused major changes in human life patterns but has also affected the beliefs and assumptions of drama therapists. Compared with that of online psychological counseling, which has been thoroughly researched, the implementation of online drama therapy is still in an exploratory stage. Research has demonstrated that online drama therapy can achieve the same benefits as in-person therapy. Online drama therapy effectively integrates various resources, experiences, and techniques and has the potential to reach out to cross cultural, environmental, and individual borders. Using three-dimensional game technology, therapy can be provided on virtual visual platforms to communicate in a dynamic and visual manner. In addition, online media can be used to overcome geographical limitations, reduce time and economic costs, and enables more clients to receive drama therapy courses. Through the camera, more can be learned about the life of the client, such as their living space and relationships with family members, which helps the therapist to adjust the treatment process. The client's lens is also a window for the therapist to understand their personal life and space. The close-up nature of the screen makes it easier for the therapist to observe the client's facial expressions and potential body language cues, which can be regarded as a form of close communication. This new type of drama therapy uses online platforms as a medium and provides clients with assistance using dynamic images and visual media;however, a lack of analysis and research regarding how online drama therapy should be performed in practice persists. Therefore, this study explored the practical experience of practitioners in drama therapy online groups to accelerate the promotion of online drama therapy. This study had three main research questions: (1) What is the difference between online drama therapy and physical drama work? (2) What are the working methods and strategies of online drama therapy? (3) What are the challenges of online drama therapy? To explore the practical experiences of drama therapists in online groups, this study adopted semistructured in-depth interviews with three drama therapists. The study participants had 5 years of experience in drama therapy and had provided online drama therapy for more than 1 year. The practitioners were all licensed drama therapists: two from the U.K. and one from North America. Their clients included teenagers, children, voluntary clients, college students, youth groups, and adult community groups. After contacting the three research respondents using online messaging, explaining the purpose of the research, and confirming the respondents' wishes, the interview outline was sent by email. The researcher, who was a senior drama therapy and psychological counseling practitioner served as the interviewer, and each semistructured in-depth interview was conducted using an online platform according to the convenience of the interviewee in accordance with epidemic prevention measures. Each interview was approximately 60 minutes long and provided insight into the experience shared in response to the research questions. After data collection, we used thematic analysis to analyze the interview transcripts and used triangulation to compare unified data among coresearchers to improve reliability and validity. The results were as follows: First, the differences between traditional and online drama therapy included that the therapeutic relationship shifted from "presence in a relationship” to "one-way relationship”;participants shifted from closed groups to more open groups;the therapy strategy shifted from interventional to supportive work;group leadership shifted from improvisational to hi hly structured;and the space for the entirety of the therapy shifted from a physical conversation space to a highly anonymous online space. Second, the working methods and strategies used in online drama therapy included: Using imagination and rituals to create a virtual space, using digital media to enhance the self-expression of participants, using real-life materials to strengthen the transformation of virtuality into reality, using images to catalyze role-playing, and promoting self-talk through virtual mirroring. Third, the challenges of online drama therapy included that the online platform limited the possibilities of interaction in theater, the dilemma of instrument theatre creation by verbal or metaphorical supplementation, the mental labor of familiarity at a high concentration and high uniformity, and the challenge of environmental privacy in therapy. The results of this research revealed that: (1) The objective perception experience in the digital work environment reduces the possibility of exploration and transformation of the client's emotional experience. Therefore, online drama therapy is not only a simple transfer of physical drama therapy technique to the computer but influences the essence of the experience. (2) Online drama therapy encourages the client to engage in role-playing and emotional release from a first-person performer position. The client simultaneously occupies a third-person audience position because of the mirroring that occurs on the screen. This process causes the simultaneous mental states of clients as both performers and audience members. (3) Online drama therapy practitioners must enhance clients' understanding of each other's behavior using the guidance of highly structured activities and language, and at the same time, they must consider the client's ability to create spontaneously. Therefore, practitioners must direct and exhibit rich imagination. However, thinking about the themselves as shown through the screen to create an aesthetic experience and having to consider the relationship between the image and the psychology of the client using logical reasoning causes a high degree of psychological labor for practitioners. Three recommendations are proposed by the researcher, based on the findings of the study. First, how practitioners should balance trauma intervention and emotional support in a digital environment is an ethical matter that requires further investigation. Second, training model should be designed that promotes a new type of online drama therapy that enhances drama therapists' ability to use digital technology and new media, improving the editing and directing ability of practitioners in image analogy and logical derivation and deepening the exploration and integration of clients' perceptual and rational experiences. Third, attention should be paid to the high degree of psychological labor that online drama therapy causes practitioners. Being aware of the sense of isolation and limitation caused by screen work, reducing performance anxiety related to work effectiveness, and undertaking self-adjustment and relaxation are necessary. Finally, through the interpretation of practitioners' practical experiences in this study, practical reference material for the application of online drama therapy can be expanded. We also hope that online drama therapy can be a "virtual vaccine,” offering the possibility of rehabilitating the body and mind among individuals suffering because of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023, National Taiwan Normal University. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Air-liquid interface (ALI) and organoid culture are key techniques for differentiating human airway epithelial cells (HAECs). The efficiency and robustness of these assays often depends on the quality of primary-isolated cells, but primary cell isolation workflows, with which the user controls the choice of isolation method, cell culture medium, and culture format, may reduce reproducibility. Therefore, an optimized, standardized workflow can enhance and support isolation of epithelial cells from diseased donors with potentially rare cystic fibrosis (CF) mutations or particularly sensitive cell populations. We have developed a standardized workflow for isolation and culture of freshly derived airway epithelial cells. Method(s): Briefly, HAECs isolated from primary tissue were expanded in PneumaCult-Ex Plus Medium for 1 week and then seeded into Corning Transwell inserts and expanded until confluency. The cells were then differentiated in PneumaCult-ALI Medium for at least 4 weeks. To assess differentiation efficiency in ALI culture, the cells were immunostained to detect Muc5AC, acetylated tubulin, and ZO-1 to identify goblet cells, ciliated cells, and apical tight junctions, respectively, aswell as SARS-CoV-2 cell entry targets angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and transmembrane serine protease 2. Ion transport and barrier function of the ALI culturesand response to CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) correctors were also measured. In addition, freshly derived HAECs were seeded into Corning Matrigel domes in the presence of PneumaCult Airway Organoid Seeding Medium. Oneweek later, the mediumwas changed to PneumaCult Airway Organoid Differentiation Medium and maintained for an additional 3 weeks to promote cell differentiation. These airway organoids were then treated with CFTR corrector VX-809 for 24 hours, followed by 6-hour treatment with amiloride, forskolin, and genistein to induce organoid swelling. Result(s): Our results demonstrate that ALI cultures derived from CF donors displayed partial rescue of CFTR across multiple passages after treatment with VX-809. Airway organoids were found to express functional CFTR, as evidenced by forskolin treatment, which induced a 64 +/- 14% (n = 1 donor) greater organoid area than in vehicle control-treated airway organoids. Airway organoids derived from CF donors displayed a loss of forskolininduced swelling, which could be partially re-established with VX-809 treatment (29 +/- 9%, n = 3). Conclusion(s): In summary, the PneumaCult workflow supports robust, efficient culture of primary-airway epithelial cells that can be used as physiologically relevant models suitable for CF research, CFTR corrector screening, and studying airway biology.Copyright © 2022, European Cystic Fibrosis Society. All rights reserved
ABSTRACT
The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) since December, 2019 has a wide range of infection due to the strong infectious characteristics. Both medical staff and patients are at increased risk of infection. It is an urgent clinical problem for specialist doctors to work with diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients during the epidemic situation. Based on the colorectal cancer diagnosis and treatment guidelines (2019 CSCO guideline), combined with their own experience, the authors propose the overall management strategies for colorectal cancer patients. This strategies cover the key diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer, and provide targeted clinical practice. These work will be helpful for colorectal cancer specialists to carry out the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer effectively under the epidemic of COVID-19.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The co-occurrence of different classes of population-level stressors, such as social unrest and public health crises, is common in contemporary societies. Yet, few studies explored their combined mental health impact. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of repeated exposure to social unrest-related traumatic events (TEs), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related events (PEs), and stressful life events (SLEs) on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms, and the potential mediating role of event-based rumination (rumination of TEs-related anger, injustice, guilt, and insecurity) between TEs and PTSD symptoms. METHODS: Community members in Hong Kong who had utilized a screening tool for PTSD and depressive symptoms were invited to complete a survey on exposure to stressful events and event-based rumination. RESULTS: A total of 10,110 individuals completed the survey. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that rumination, TEs, and SLEs were among the significant predictors for PTSD symptoms (all P < 0.001), accounting for 32% of the variance. For depression, rumination, SLEs, and PEs were among the significant predictors (all P < 0.001), explaining 24.9% of the variance. Two-way analysis of variance of different recent and prior TEs showed significant dose-effect relationships. The effect of recent TEs on PTSD symptoms was potentiated by prior TEs (P = 0.005). COVID-19 PEs and prior TEs additively contributed to PTSD symptoms, with no significant interaction (P = 0.94). Meanwhile, recent TEs were also potentiated by SLEs (P = 0.002). The effects of TEs on PTSD symptoms were mediated by rumination (ß = 0.38, standard error = 0.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.36 to 0.41), with 40.4% of the total effect explained. All 4 rumination subtypes were significant mediators. CONCLUSIONS: Prior and ongoing TEs, PEs, and SLEs cumulatively exacerbated PTSD and depressive symptoms. The role of event-based rumination and their interventions should be prioritized for future research.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Depression , Rumination, Cognitive/classification , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic , Stress, Psychological , Adult , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19/psychology , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Depression/diagnosis , Depression/epidemiology , Depression/etiology , Female , Hong Kong/epidemiology , Humans , Life Change Events , Male , Mass Screening/methods , Mental Health , Psychological Techniques , Public Health , Risk Assessment , SARS-CoV-2 , Sociological Factors , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/etiology , Stress, Psychological/epidemiology , Stress, Psychological/etiology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has ledtoa changein working practices in The diagnosis and management of Colorectal cancer. Guidelines emerged which recommended changing anastomotic practice in favour of forming a defunctioning stoma or end stoma in patients who would have previously had an anastomosis. This study aimed to identify whether these changes have resulted in an increase in patients requiring a stoma and its potential impact. Method(s): All patients diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer in The authors' tertiary surgical unit in three 4-month intervals were included. These corresponded to before The pandemic (March-June 2019), during The UK's first wave of COVID-19 (March-June 2020), and during The second wave (December 2020-March 2021). The incidence of stomas was compared between groups. Result(s): In patients undergoing elective Surgery The incidence of stomas was 13% pre-pandemic. However, this tripled to 39% during The first wave and increased to 54% in The second wave. Similar trends were seen in patients undergoing emergency Surgery with 36% having stomas before The pandemic which rose to 50% during both The waves. Conclusion(s): A change in stoma practice was observed with patients having a stoma when they would usually have had an anastomosis only. As COVID-19 continues to have a severe effect on planned Surgery in The UK, patients requiring stoma reversal adds to The backlog. As The huge task of clearing The backlog begins, surgical teams must be provided with appropriate resources, professional and mental Health support.
ABSTRACT
Inventive Problem-Solving Skills (IPSS) is the ability to solve difficulties efficiently and without hindrance. The aim of this study is to identify issues, importance, and solutions in identifying the causes of inventive design problems among students and teachers of Invention. In addition, there are two objectives of the study (1) to identify the differences in the importance and issues of IPSS among students and teachers of Invention, and (2) to identify the importance, issues and proposed solutions of IPSS by Invention’s teachers. This study has a used mixed-method an approach that includes quantitative and qualitative methods. For the first objective quantitative will be used by making a questionnaire while for the second objective, the mixed method was used by using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The survey covered a total of 133 students and 30 Invention teachers from a secondary school in Johor. In this study, SPSS software was used to obtain the data. As a result, there was no significant difference in significance [t (133) = 2.915;p = .194, (p > .05)] or problem [t (133) = .142;p = .09, (p > .05)] for gender, according to t-test findings. The level of significance was then determined using a two-way ANOVA test. Subsequently, two-way ANOVA tests revealed that importance (F (30) = 2.874, p = .061) and problem (F (30) = 6.846, p = .112) abilities were not influenced by teacher gender or teaching experience. To identify the root cause of inventive problems, the majority of teachers prefer to use Functional Analysis to apply the Theory of Inventive Problem-Solving Skills (TRIZ). As a result, the creation of self-learning modules is offered as a teaching resource to help students use their abilities in the Invention course. Thus, the objective has been well achieved to (1) identify the differences in importance and issues of IPSS among students and teachers of Invention, and (2) identify the importance, issues and proposed solutions of IPSS by Invention’s teachers. Among the challenges faced in this study was that communication between students and teachers was done virtually on deck due to the Covid-19 issue that struck. © 2022, author.
ABSTRACT
Background: Geriatric patients with COVID-19 have had poor clinical outcomes globally, especially during the first wave of the pandemic. In Taiwan, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred from May to July 2021. This retrospective study aimed to compare the characteristics and outcomes between geriatric and younger patients with COVID-19 infection. Methods: A total of 257 confirmed COVID-19 cases who were hospitalized from May to June 2021 were included. Their characteristics and outcomes, including in-hospital mortality, use of mechanical ventilation, and hospital stay, were collected for analysis. Results: There were 98 elderly patients (aged >= 65 years, median, 72.5 (interquartile range, 69.0-78.0) years) and 159 younger patients (aged < 65 years, median 55.0 (46.0-60.0) years). The elderly patients had a significantly higher Charlson comorbidity score (4.0 (3.0-5.0) vs. 1.0 (1.0-2.0), p < 0.001), and significantly higher D-dimer, procalcitonin, ferritin, and creatinine levels, but lower albumin level than the younger patients. The elderly group also had higher in-hospital mortality (7.1% vs. 1.9%, p < 0.05), were more likely to develop severe disease (83.7% vs. 67.9%, p < 0.01), and had a longer hospital stay (15.0 (11.0-23.0) vs. 12.0 (9.0-16.5) days, p < 0.001). Nevertheless, the elderly patients did not have a higher risk of using high-flow nasal cannulas (17.3% vs. 15.1%, p = 0.63) or mechanic ventilation (23.5% vs. 17.0%, p = 0.20). Conclusion: Elderly COVID-19 patients had significant higher risks of severe disease, mortality, and lon-ger duration of hospitalization, possible due higher rates of comorbidities and pro-inflammatory status. Copyright (c) 2022, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought excessive patients in emergency departments. Several COVID-19 prediction scores have been developed to aid in the patient disposition of emergency physicians. This study aimed to validate different COVID-19 prediction scores. Method: ???DynaMed??? was used to retrieve high-quality COVID-19 prediction scores for the evaluation of in-hospital mortality rate. SEIMC score, 4C-Mortality score, SOARS score, and Veterans Health Administration COVID-19 (VACO) Index were selected. A retrospective, single-center study was done on elderly patients hospitalized for COVID-19 from May 2021 to July 2021 in MacKay Memorial Hospital. Patients who were (I) negative for COVID-19 examination, (II) aged 65 years old, (III) previously infected with COVID-19 and de-isolated (IV) hospital-acquired COVID-19 infection, (V) not admitted for hospitalization, and (VI) with missing of demographic characteristics were excluded. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) was computed to predict the in-hospital mortality rate. Result: Of 66,090 patients who underwent COVID-19 examination in MacKay Memorial Hospital, 133 patients were included in this study, with 26 deceased patients (19.5%). Among included patients, the median age was 74.38 years and 53% patients were male. Of the selected COVID-19 prediction scores, 4C-Mortality Score (AUC = 0.8), SEIMC score (AUC = 0.75), and SOARS score (AUC = 0.72) contained a good prognostic value, with an AUC 0.70. VACO index demonstrated less predictive value (AUC = 0.61). Conclusion: COVID-19 prediction scores were validated, and it was found that 4C-Mortality Score, SEIMC score, and SOARS score performed well in predicting the in-hospital mortality rate of elderly patients with COVID-19, and 4C-Mortality score is best appreciated.
ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause acute respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The prone position (PP) is widely used in patients with severe hypoxemia due to ARDS as it improves oxygenation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether improvements in gas exchange and lung mechanics with the PP were associated with survival in ventilated COVID-19 patients. Methods: Fourteen ventilated patients who were placed in the PP were included from May to June 2021. Clinical manifestations and lung mechanics parameters were collected. Results: The overall intensive care unit (ICU) mortality rate was 42.9%. Nonsurvivors were older (p = 0.014) and had higher Charlson comorbidity index (2.1 +/- 1.5 vs. 4.8 +/- 2.4, p = 0.035) and Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) (3.3 +/- 1.0 vs. 7.3 +/- 3.5, p = 0.019) scores compared to survivors. There was no difference in PaO2/FiO(2) (P/F ratio) at baseline between the survivors and nonsurvivors. The improvement in P/F ratio (p = 0.0037) and reduction in driving pressure (Pdrive) (p = 0.046) on the second day after first PP were correlated with lower mortality. Significant predictors of successfully stopping prone treatment included a reduction in Pdrive at the first hour, lower tidal volume (Vt) at the fourth hour, and P/F ratio improvement on the second day after PP. Conclusion: Improvement in P/F ratio and reduction in driving pressure on the second day after PP were correlated with reduced mortality. Three parameters could predict successful resumption of the supine position. Copyright (c) 2022, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine.
ABSTRACT
Restrictive COVID-19 measures can have significant mental health impacts, particularly on young people. How such measures may influence day-to-day momentary affect, nonetheless, remains to be explored. Experience sampling data were collected from 165 young people (aged 15-24) as part of a larger epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong. We examined the impact of one of the most stringent COVID-19 measures - dine-in restrictions - on momentary positive and negative affect and current contexts and activities of these young people. The effects of a milder form of COVID-19 measure - school suspension - were separately examined. Multilevel analysis revealed that those in the dine-in ban group, compared to dining-as-usual, showed significantly reduced momentary positive affect (ß = -0.17, SE = 0.06, p = 0.003). Its effect remained significant even when accounting for baseline depressive and anxiety symptoms and socioeconomic status (ß = -0.15, SE = 0.05, p = 0.008). The effect of dine-in ban on reduced momentary positive affect was found specifically when participants were in indoor locations (e.g., home, office), alone, and engaged in passive leisure activities. This pattern was not observed when participants were at school or at other outdoor locations, with friends, or engaged in active leisure activities. No significant effect of school suspension on momentary affect was observed. More severe COVID-19 measures, such as dine-in ban, can have significant impacts on the momentary positive affect of young people. Certain contexts and activities may offer protection against the consequences of COVID-19 measures. The current findings may help to inform future designs of mental health interventions and public health policies. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03183-y.
ABSTRACT
Organoids are emerging to be an excellent tool for studying human development and disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of physiologically relevant alveolar infection models that include both alveolar epithelial type 1 (AT1) and type 2 (AT2) cells. To address the need for an alveolar organoid culture system for respiratory research, we developed the PneumaCult™ Alveolar Organoid Expansion and Differentiation Media for the highly efficient expansion of isolated primary human AT2 cells and subsequent differentiation into AT1 cells. Alveolar organoids were established from a panel of various donors (n=5) by culturing purified human AT2 cells in Corning® Matrigel® domes with serum-free PneumaCult™ Alveolar Organoid Expansion Medium. Typically by day 10-14 the organoids are fully established and display a spherical morphology. Alveolar organoids can then be either expanded long-term by passaging cultures as single cells in Expansion Medium or differentiated into AT1 cells using the PneumaCult™ Alveolar Organoid Differentiation Medium. Organoids in PneumaCult™ Alveolar Organoid Expansion Medium contain self-renewing AT2 cells marked by the expression of HT2-280 in 89.9 +/- 14.5 (mean +/- SD;n=5 donors) of cells and the presence of Pro-SPC, demonstrate a great expansion potential of > 10,000-fold with more than 13 population doublings within 10 passages (n=5 donors). Alveolar organoids differentiated for 10 days in the PneumaCult™ Alveolar Organoid Differentiation Medium downregulate AT2 markers HT2-280 and Pro-SPC and start expressing AT1 markers HT1-56 in 93.8 +/- 7.2 (mean +/- SD;n=5 donors) of cells and are positive for RAGE and GPRC5a. Furthermore, we assessed the expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor ACE2, which is present in both undifferentiated and differentiated alveolar organoids.To investigate the use of these alveolar organoids for infectious disease modeling, AT2-containing alveolar organoids were transduced with a GFP-labelled Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Alveolar organoids were susceptible to viral infection and replication was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and quantitative PCR. In summary, the PneumaCult™ Alveolar Organoid Expansion and Differentiation Media are highly efficient and reproducible tools for the feeder-free expansion of AT2 cells and robust differentiation into AT1 cells, which can be used for infectious disease modeling.
ABSTRACT
The rampageous transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been devastatingly impacting human life and public health since late 2019. The waves of pandemic events caused by distinct coronaviruses at present and over the past decades have prompted the need to develop broad-spectrum antiviral drugs against them. In this study, our Pentarlandir ultrapure and potent tannic acids (UPPTA) showed activities against two coronaviral strains, SARSCoV-2 and HCoV-OC43, the earliest-known coronaviruses. The mode of inhibition of Pentarlandir UPPTA is likely to act on 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro) to prevent viral replication, as supported by results of biochemical analysis, a 3CLpro assay, and a "gain-of-function" 3CLpro overexpressed cell-based method. Even in the 3CLpro overexpressed environment, Pentarlandir UPPTA remained its antiviral characteristic. Utilizing cell-based virucidal and cytotoxicity assays, the 50% effective concentrations (EC50) and 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of Pentarlandir UPPTA were determined to be similar to 0.5 and 52.5 mu M against SARS-CoV-2, while they were 1.3 and 205.9 mu M against HCoV-OC43, respectively. In the pharmacokinetic studies, Pentarlandir UPPTA was distributable at a high level to the lung tissue with no accumulation in the body, although the distribution was affected by the food effect. With further investigation in toxicology, Pentarlandir UPPTA demonstrated an overall safe toxicology profile. Taking these findings together, Pentarlandir UPPTA is considered to be a safe and efficacious pancoronal antiviral drug candidate that has been advanced to clinical development.
ABSTRACT
B-cell receptors (BCRs) and their impact on B cells play a vital role in our immune system;however, the manner in which B cells are activated by BCRs are still poorly understood. Ze Zhang and colleagues present a graph-based method that connects BCR and single B-cell RNA sequencing data and identifies notable coupling between BCR and B-cell expression in COVID-19. B-cell receptors (BCRs) are a crucial player in the development and activation of B cells, and their mature forms are secreted as antibodies, which execute functions such as the neutralization of invading pathogens. All current analytical approaches for BCRs solely investigate the BCR sequences and ignore their correlations with the transcriptomics of the B cells, yielding conclusions of unknown functional relevance regarding the roles of BCRs and B cells, and could generate biased interpretation. Many single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) techniques can now capture both the gene expression and BCR of each B cell, which could potentially address this issue. Here, we investigated 43,938 B cells from 13 scRNA-seq datasets with matched scBCR sequencing, and we observed an association between the BCRs and the B cells' transcriptomics. Motivated by this, we developed the Benisse model (BCR embedding graphical network informed by scRNA-seq) to provide refined analyses of BCRs guided by single-cell gene expression. Benisse revealed a gradient of B-cell activation along BCR trajectories. We discovered a stronger coupling between BCRs and B-cell gene expression during COVID-19 infections. We found that BCRs form a directed pattern of continuous and linear evolution to achieve the highest antigen targeting efficiency, compared with the convergent evolution pattern of T-cell receptors. Overall, a simultaneous digestion of the BCR and gene expression of B cells, viewed through the lens of Benisse, will lead to a more insightful interpretation of the functional relevance of the BCR repertoire in different biological contexts.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Young people are most vulnerable to suicidal behaviours but least likely to seek help. A more elaborate study of the intrinsic and extrinsic correlates of suicidal ideation and behaviours particularly amid ongoing population-level stressors and the identification of less stigmatising markers in representative youth populations is essential. METHODS: Participants (n = 2540, aged 15-25) were consecutively recruited from an ongoing large-scale household-based epidemiological youth mental health study in Hong Kong between September 2019 and 2021. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt were assessed, alongside suicide-related rumination, hopelessness and neuroticism, personal and population-level stressors, family functioning, cognitive ability, lifetime non-suicidal self-harm, 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD), and alcohol use. RESULTS: The 12-month prevalence of suicidal ideation, ideation-only (no plan or attempt), plan, and attempt was 20.0, 15.4, 4.6, and 1.3%, respectively. Importantly, multivariable logistic regression findings revealed that suicide-related rumination was the only factor associated with all four suicidal outcomes (all p < 0.01). Among those with suicidal ideation (two-stage approach), intrinsic factors, including suicide-related rumination, poorer cognitive ability, and 12-month MDE, were specifically associated with suicide plan, while extrinsic factors, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) stressors, poorer family functioning, and personal life stressors, as well as non-suicidal self-harm, were specifically associated with suicide attempt. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide-related rumination, population-level COVID-19 stressors, and poorer family functioning may be important less-stigmatising markers for youth suicidal risks. The respective roles played by not only intrinsic but also extrinsic factors in suicide plan and attempt using a two-stage approach should be considered in future preventative intervention work.
ABSTRACT
Thanks to GPU-accelerated processing, cryo-EM has become a rapid structure determination method that permits capture of dynamical structures of molecules in solution, which has been recently demonstrated by the determination of COVID-19 spike protein in March, shortly after its breakout in late January 2020. This rapidity is critical for vaccine development in response to the emerging pandemic. Compared to the Bayesian-based 2D classification widely used in the workflow, the multi-reference alignment (MRA) is less popular. It is time-consuming despite its superior in differentiating structural variations. Interestingly, the Bayesian approach has higher complexity than MRA. We thereby reason that the popularity of Bayesian is gained through GPU acceleration, where a modular acceleration library for MRA is lacking. Here, we introduce a library called Cryo-RALib that expands the functionality of CUDA library used by GPU ISAC. It contains a GPU-accelerated MRA routine for accelerating MRA-based classification algorithms. In addition, we connect the cryo-EM image analysis with the python data science stack to make it easier for users to perform data analysis and visualization. Benchmarking on the TaiWan Computing Cloud (TWCC) shows that our implementation can accelerate the computation by one order of magnitude. The library is available at https://github.com/phonchi/Cryo-RAlib. © 2021 IEEE
ABSTRACT
This study designed related mental health assessment questions to investigate the mental stress of college students in China's southwest region during the epidemic. In this study, college students from 5 universities in southwest China were selected as the research objects. A total of 1890 questionnaires were distributed, and 1812 questionnaires were recovered, with the recovery rate of 95.87%, of which 1808 are valid. The valid rate of the questionnaire is 99.78%. The data on questionnaires were imported into Excel for preliminary screening and processing, and the data were analyzed using the SPSS22.0 software. The enumeration data are expressed by percentage (%), and X2 test was performed for comparison. t test was used to compare the enumeration data, with P<0.05 representing there is difference. The research results showed that college students in Southwest China generally have different degrees of mental problems, and there are many influencing factors, including the following aspects: (1) It was found that compared with non-medical students, medical students have a lower degree of anxiety;(2) sleep quality. Generally speaking, mental state is closely related to the quality of sleep;(3) The degree of understanding of COVID-19. Students who have a moderate understanding of the epidemic situation are generally more anxious, suggesting that mistakes or limited cognition of COVID-19 can result in negative emotions of students;(4) This study revealed that with the reduction in the frequency of going out per week, the degree of anxiety of college students increases significantly. © 2021 Kriedt Enterprises Ltd. All right reserved.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, the performances of face recognition have been improved significantly by using convolution neural networks (CNN) as the feature extractors. On the other hands, in order to avoid spreading COVID-19 virus, people would wear mask even when they want to pass the face recognition system. Thus, it is necessary to improve the performance of masked face recognition so that users could utilize face recognition methods more easily. In this paper, we propose a feature extraction backbone named ResSaNet that integrates CNN (especially Residual block) and Self-attention module into the same network. By capturing the local and global information of face area simultaneously, our proposed ResSaNet could achieve promising results on both masked and non-masked testing data.