The Effect of Work Engagement and Perceived Organizational Support on Turnover Intention among Nurses: A Meta-Analysis Based on the Price–Mueller Model

Aim. To elaborate on the relationship between work engagement, perceived organizational support, and the turnover intention of nurses by analysing some potential moderators. Background. Nurses' turnover intention is negatively impacted by their level of work engagement and perceptions of organizational support. However, it is challenging to reach a consistent conclusion. Methods. Data were acquired from six electronic databases. Each study was evaluated using the quality assessment tool for cross-sectional studies of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). STATA 15.0 was used to analyse the data, and a random effects model was used. The groups that included two or more studies were added to the moderator analysis. Results. A total of 40 study articles involving 23,451 participants were included. The turnover intention of nurses was inversely associated with work engagement (coefficient: −0.42) and perceived organizational support (coefficient: −0.32). A substantial moderating role was played by cultural background, economic status, working years, and investigation time (P<0.05). Conclusion. Work engagement and organizational support significantly reduced turnover intention among nurses. Considering the acute shortage of nurses worldwide, nurses with lower wages, fewer working years, and lower levels of work engagement should be given more attention and support from their organizations. Implications for Nursing Management. The meta-analysis suggested that managers should give their employees a more organizational support and promote their work engagement to motivate nurses' retention intention and maintain a stable workforce with little employee turnover.

Redistribution and activation of CD16brightCD56dim NK cell subset to fight against Omicron subvariant BA.2 after COVID-19 vaccination (preprint)

With the alarming surge in COVID-19 cases globally, vaccination must be prioritised to achieve herd immunity. Immune dysfunction is detected in the majority of patients with COVID-19; however, it remains unclear whether the immune responses elicited by COVID-19 vaccination function against the Omicron subvariant BA.2. Of the 508 Omicron BA.2-infected patients enrolled, 102 were unvaccinated controls and 406 were vaccinated. Despite the presence of clinical symptoms in both groups, vaccination led to a significant decline in nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, headache, pulmonary infection, overall clinical symptoms, and a moderate rise in body temperature. Omicron BA.2-infected individuals were also characterised by a mild increase in both serum pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels after vaccination. There were no significant differences or trend changes between T and B lymphocyte subsets; however, a significant expansion of NK lymphocytes in COVID-19-vaccinated patients was observed. Moreover, the most effective CD16brightCD56dim subsets of NK cells showed increased functional capacities, as evidenced by a significantly greater IFN-{gamma} secretion and stronger cytotoxic potential in Omicron BA.2-infected patients after vaccination. Collectively, these results suggest that COVID-19 vaccination interventions promote the redistribution and activation of CD16brightCD56dim NK cell subsets against viral infections, and could facilitate the clinical management of Omicron BA.2-infected patients.

Mesophilic Argonaute-based isothermal detection of SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and its mutations, has spread rapidly all over the world and still requires sensitive detection to distinguish mutations. CRISPR-based diagnosis has been regarded as a next-generation detection method;however, it has some limitations, such as the need for specific recognition sequences and multiple enzymes for multiplex detection. Therefore, research on the exploration and development of novel nucleases helps to promote specific and sensitive diagnoses. Prokaryotic Argonaute (Ago) proteins exert directed nuclease activity that can target any sequence. Recently, thermophilic Agos have been developed as new detection techniques achieving multiplexity for multiple targets using a single enzyme, as well as accurate recognition of single-base differential sequences. In this study, to overcome the requirement for high reaction temperature of thermophilic Ago-based methods, we expanded the mining of mesophilic Agos to achieve CRISPR-like isothermal detection, named mesophilic Ago-based isothermal detection method (MAIDEN). The principle of MAIDEN uses mesophilic Ago cleavage combined with reverse transcription, which can provide single-strand DNA as a substrate and allow cleavage of fluorescence probes to sense SARS-CoV-2 at moderate temperature. We first mined and optimized the mesophilic Ago and the fluorescence reporter system and then selected a compatible reverse transcription reaction. Furthermore, we optimized MAIDEN into a one-step reaction that can detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA at the nanomolar concentration at a constant temperature of 42°C within 60 min. Therefore, MAIDEN shows advantageous portability and easy-to-implement operation, avoiding the possibility of open-lid contamination. Our study was the first attempt to demonstrate that mesophilic Agos can be harnessed as diagnostic tools, and MAIDEN was easily extended to detect other pathogens in a rapid and efficient manner.

Backward bifurcation, basic reinfection number and robustness of a SEIRE epidemic model with reinfection (preprint)

Recent evidences show that individuals who recovered from COVID-19 can be reinfected. However, this phenomenon has rarely been studied using mathematical models. In this paper, we propose a SEIRE epidemic model to describe the spread of the epidemic with reinfection. We obtain the important thresholds $R_0$ (the basic reproduction number) and Rc (a threshold less than one). Our investigations show that when $R_0 > 1$, the system has an endemic equilibrium, which is globally asymptotically stable. When $R_c < R_0 < 1$, the epidemic system exhibits bistable dynamics. That is, the system has backward bifurcation and the disease cannot be eradicated. In order to eradicate the disease, we must ensure that the basic reproduction number $R_0$ is less than $R_c$. The basic reinfection number is obtained to measure the reinfection force, which turns out to be a new tipping point for disease dynamics. We also give definition of robustness, a new concept to measure the difficulty of completely eliminating the disease for a bistable epidemic system. Numerical simulations are carried out to verify the conclusions.

Quantifying Effects of Non-Pharmacological Interventions on COVID-19 Transmission With Modeling (preprint)

Background: The initial outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly extended globally, which brought huge detrimental to the whole society. While some countries and regions are currently experiencing another outbreak of COVID-19.Methods: In this study, by using the epidemic data from January 2 to February 11, 2021 in city Shijiazhuang, an extended SEIR model was established to evaluate the effectiveness of emergency response, nucleic acid testing (NAT) and stay-at-home order for all individuals, and to simulate the impact of delayed interventions.Findings: We estimated an initial effective reproduction number (Rt) was 4·70, and the Rt value gradually decreased with the implementation of government interventions. Meanwhile, the final cumulative number of confirmed cases decreased by 99·99% (898 cases), and peak of current confirmed cases decreased by 99·99% (763 cases) compared with that without intervention. With fewer interventions, the number of infected individuals will continue to increase. Delayed interventions were simulated which would show at least 80% (1614 cases), 218% (2854 cases), 464% (5061 cases), and 879% (8787 cases) more infections can be attained for Shijiazhuang city, if the intervention was delayed by 2, 4, 6, and 8 days, respectively.Interpretation: The Shijiazhuang government has effectively controlled the spread of the epidemic by adopting a series of comprehensive non-pharmacological interventions in time.Funding Information: The study was supported by grants from the National Social Science Foundation of China (20BRK041).Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Research on dynamic behavior and traffic management decision-making of suspension bridge after vortex-induced vibration event

Long-span suspension bridges are susceptible to wind loads due to their lightweight, low stiffness, and small structural damping. Recently, two large-span suspension bridges in China that closed for several months due to COVID-2019 experienced large-scale and continuous vortex-induced vibration shortly after reopening to traffic, and the traffic was closed again for safety consideration, which has aroused widespread concerns in society. To provide a reference for owners and related decision-making departments whether to restore the traffic, this article intends to explore the impact mechanism of traffic loads on the dynamic behavior of suspension bridges. First, two mechanical models for suspension bridges considering traffic loads and structural damping are proposed in this article. Then, based on the extended dynamic stiffness method, the explicit expressions of modal damping ratio in the two models are derived for the first time. Subsequently, Wittrick?Williams algorithm is employed to solve the frequency equation to obtain the modal frequency of the structure that considers the effect of traffic loads. A numerical case is studied to inspect the influence of traffic loads on the structural dynamic characteristics. Moreover, field monitoring data of accelerations of a suspension bridge are utilized to demonstrate the reasonability and accuracy of the approach proposed. Analysis shows that the theoretical results are consistent well with the measured ones, which indicates the traffic loads will affect the dynamic characteristics of the suspension bridge, thus reducing the modal frequency and increasing the modal damping ratio. Besides, the measured results further explain that the contribution of traffic loads to the structural damping is significant, which has a positive effect on preventing and eliminating vortex-induced vibration response. Some interesting and enlightening conclusions are also obtained in this article.

Stretch-driven microfluidic chip for nucleic acid detection (preprint)

Molecular diagnosis is an essential means to detect pathogens. The portable nucleic acid detection chip has excellent prospects in places where medical resources are scarce, and it is also of research interest in the field of microfluidic chips. Here, the paper developed a new type of microfluidic chip for nucleic acid detection where stretching acts as the driving force. The sample entered the chip by applying capillary force. The strain valve was opened under the action of tensile force, and the spring pump generated the power to drive the fluid to flow to the detection chamber in a specific direction. The detection of COVID-19 was realized on the chip. The RT-LAMP amplification system was adopted to observe the liquid color in the detection chamber to decide whether the sample tested positive or negative qualitatively.

SARS-CoV-2 ORF9c Is a Membrane-Associated Protein that Suppresses Antiviral Responses in Cells (preprint)

Disrupted antiviral immune responses are associated with severe COVID-19, the disease caused by SAR-CoV-2. Here, we show that the 73-amino-acid protein encoded by ORF9c of the viral genome contains a putative transmembrane domain, interacts with membrane proteins in multiple cellular compartments, and impairs antiviral processes in a lung epithelial cell line. Proteomic, interactome, and transcriptomic analyses, combined with bioinformatic analysis, revealed that expression of only this highly unstable small viral protein impaired interferon signaling, antigen presentation, and complement signaling, while inducing IL-6 signaling. Furthermore, we showed that interfering with ORF9c degradation by either proteasome inhibition or inhibition of the ATPase VCP blunted the effects of ORF9c. Our study indicated that ORF9c enables immune evasion and coordinates cellular changes essential for the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle. One-sentence summarySARS-CoV-2 ORF9c is the first human coronavirus protein localized to membrane, suppressing antiviral response, resembling full viral infection.

Identification of potential key genes for SARS-CoV-2 infected human bronchial organoids based on bioinformatics analysis (preprint)

There is an urgent need to understand the pathogenesis of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus clade 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that leads to COVID-19 and respiratory failure. Our study is to discover differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and biological signaling pathways by using a bioinformatics approach to elucidate their potential pathogenesis. The gene expression profiles of the GSE150819 datasets were originally produced using an Illumina NextSeq 500 (Homo sapiens). KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) and GO (Gene Ontology) were utilized to identify functional categories and significant pathways. KEGG and GO results suggested that the Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, P53 signaling pathway, and Apoptosis are the main signaling pathways in SARS-CoV-2 infected human bronchial organoids (hBOs). Furthermore, NFKBIA, C3, and CCL20 may be key genes in SARS-CoV-2 infected hBOs. Therefore, our study provides further insights into the therapy of COVID-19.

Multi-organ Proteomic Landscape of COVID-19 Autopsies (preprint)

The molecular pathology of multi-organ injuries in COVID-19 patients remains unclear, preventing effective therapeutics development. Here, we report an in-depth multi-organ proteomic landscape of COVID-19 patient autopsy samples. By integrative analysis of proteomes of seven organs, namely lung, spleen, liver, heart, kidney, thyroid and testis, we characterized 11,394 proteins, in which 5336 were perturbed in COVID-19 patients compared to controls. Our data showed that CTSL, rather than ACE2, was significantly upregulated in the lung from COVID-19 patients. Dysregulation of protein translation, glucose metabolism, fatty acid metabolism was detected in multiple organs. Our data suggested upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, hyperinflammation might be triggered which in turn induces damage of gas exchange barrier in the lung, leading to hypoxia, angiogenesis, coagulation and fibrosis in the lung, kidney, spleen, liver, heart and thyroid. Evidence for testicular injuries included reduced Leydig cells, suppressed cholesterol biosynthesis and sperm mobility. In summary, this study depicts the multi-organ proteomic landscape of COVID-19 autopsies, and uncovered dysregulated proteins and biological processes, offering novel therapeutic clues. HIGHLIGHTSO_LICharacterization of 5336 regulated proteins out of 11,394 quantified proteins in the lung, spleen, liver, kidney, heart, thyroid and testis autopsies from 19 patients died from COVID-19. C_LIO_LICTSL, rather than ACE2, was significantly upregulated in the lung from COVID-19 patients. C_LIO_LIEvidence for suppression of glucose metabolism in the spleen, liver and kidney; suppression of fatty acid metabolism in the kidney; enhanced fatty acid metabolism in the lung, spleen, liver, heart and thyroid from COVID-19 patients; enhanced protein translation initiation in the lung, liver, renal medulla and thyroid. C_LIO_LITentative model for multi-organ injuries in patients died from COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers hyperinflammatory which in turn induces damage of gas exchange barrier in the lung, leading to hypoxia, angiogenesis, coagulation and fibrosis in the lung, kidney, spleen, liver, heart, kidney and thyroid. C_LIO_LITesticular injuries in COVID-19 patients included reduced Leydig cells, suppressed cholesterol biosynthesis and sperm mobility. C_LI

NVX-CoV2373 vaccine protects cynomolgus macaque upper and lower airways against SARS-CoV-2 challenge (preprint)

There is an urgent need for a safe and protective vaccine to control the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 and prevent COVID-19. Here, we report the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) produced from the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein stabilized in the prefusion conformation. Cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) immunized with NVX-CoV2373 and the saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant induced anti-S antibody that was neutralizing and blocked binding to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor. Following intranasal and intratracheal challenge with SARS-CoV-2, immunized macaques were protected against upper and lower infection and pulmonary disease. These results support ongoing phase 1/2 clinical studies of the safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2327 vaccine (NCT04368988). HighlightsO_LIFull-length SARS-CoV-2 prefusion spike with Matrix-M1 (NVX-CoV2373) vaccine. C_LIO_LIInduced hACE2 receptor blocking and neutralizing antibodies in macaques. C_LIO_LIVaccine protected against SARS-CoV-2 replication in the nose and lungs. C_LIO_LIAbsence of pulmonary pathology in NVX-CoV2373 vaccinated macaques. C_LI

Proteomics Uncovers Immunosuppression in COVID-19 Patients with Long Disease Course (preprint)

Little is known regarding why a subset of COVID-19 patients exhibited prolonged positivity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we present a longitudinal sera proteomic resource for 37 COVID-19 patients over nine weeks, in which 2700 proteins were quantified with high quality. Remarkably, we found that during the first three weeks since disease onset, while clinical symptoms and outcome were indistinguishable, patients with prolonged disease course displayed characteristic immunological responses including enhanced Natural Killer (NK) cell-mediated innate immunity and regulatory T cell-mediated immunosuppression. We further showed that it is possible to predict the length of disease course using machine learning based on blood protein levels during the first three weeks. Validation in an independent cohort achieved an accuracy of 82%. In summary, this study presents a rich serum proteomic resource to understand host responses in COVID-19 patients and identifies characteristic Treg-mediated immunosuppression in LC patients, nominating new therapeutic target and diagnosis strategy.

Clinical symptoms and psychological changes of patients with COVID-19 in Jiangxi Province (preprint)

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and differences in etiology, clinical manifestations, and psychological activity of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) among patients. Results We recruited 90 subjects, 30 were healthy controls, 30 were patients with moderate infection, and 30 were patients with severe/critical infections. No significant differences were noted in the sex ratio, mean age, body mass index, or blood type; however, the history of exposure of the patients with COVID-19 compared with healthy controls was noteworthy. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate, as well as the levels of C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A (SAA) were all increased. In terms of mental health, there were significant differences in the worry scores between severely and moderately infected patients and healthy controls. There was a significant difference in depression scores between patients with moderate infection and healthy hypertension, and there was also a significant difference in dream worry scores. Analysis of the Mini-Mental State Examination scores showed that for patients with moderate infection, the depression score was moderately and positively correlated with the dream anxiety score. For patients with severe infection, the anxiety score was positively correlated with the dream anxiety score, and the depression score was moderately and positively correlated with the dream anxiety score. Conclusion Patients with severe infection showed increased pain and sputum in the pharyngeal area compared with patients with moderate infection. Patients with blood type A may be more susceptible to COVID-19, and lymphopenia may indicate worsening of COVID-19.

Changes in the clinical characteristics of severe Corona Virus Disease 2019 in Jiangxi Province (preprint)

Backgrounds: To determine the differences in clinical manifestations and biomarker levels of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, including common patients and severe (serious and critical) patients.Methods: A total of 89 COVID-19 patients were diagnosed and treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University. We clinically classified the patients and collected data. Findings: There was a higher proportion of confirmed cases in patients with type A blood (44.8%). There were no obvious differences in number of lung lobes involved in the lesion between the patients with or without a positive nucleic acid test (p>0.05).There were obvious differences in contact history (p<0.001), duration of symptoms (p=0.004), and respiratory rate (p=0.029) between the patients with or without a positive nucleic acid test. According to the results of the nucleic acid diagnosis test, there were no obvious differences in the number of lung lobes involved in the lesion and all items of routine blood, liver, and kidney function tests between the patients with or without positive nucleic acid tests (all p>0.05). Between the common patients and severe patients, there were obvious differences in age (p=0.006), duration of symptoms (p=0.001), diastolic blood pressure (p=0.046), lymphocyte count (p＜0.0001), neutrophil count (p=0.019), albumin (p=0.002), lactate dehydrogenase (p=0.007), calcium (p＜0.0001), C-reactive protein (CRP) (p=0.004), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p=0.021), international standard ratio (p=0.020), and CD3 (p=0.001), CD3+CD4 (p=0.006), and CD3+CD8 (p=0.001) levels. In patients infected with SARS-COV-2, the number of lung lobes involved in the lesion were positively correlated with lymphocytes (R=0.261, p=0.044); the body mass index (BMI) values were positively correlated with the number of lung lobes involved in the lesion (R=0.320, P=0.034); the age (R=0.391, p<0.001) and respiratory rate (R=0.352, p=0.001) were positively correlated with neutrophil count; and the age (R=0.349, p=0.001) and the number of lung lobes involved in the lesion (R=0.422, p=0.001) were positively correlated with CRP.Conclusion: Patients with blood type A may be more susceptible to SARS-COV-2. The decrease in lymphocytes may indicate the aggravation of COVID-19, whereas the number of lung lobes involved in the lesion may not be a valid criterion for COVID-19 diagnosis.