ABSTRACT
Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a serious threat to public health;anticancer-repositioning treatment strategy has been formulated to treat the disease. However, evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of repositioned anticancer treatment in treating COVID-19-infected non-cancer patients (CINPs) is limited. Therefore, this study analyzed published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the impact of anticancer drugs compared to current standards of care (SOCs) on CINP treatment. Materials and methods: The PubMed and Embase databases were searched to identify eligible RCTs. Outcome measures included mortality, the use of mechanical ventilation (MV), and serious adverse events (SAEs). Results: 25 RCTs were reviewed in our study. Compared to SOCs, repositioned anticancer therapy for treating CINPs was associated with mortality reduction (odds ratio (OR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.65 - 0.94, p = 0.01). Using the repositioned anticancer treatment exhibited statistically significant reduction, in both the number of CINPs using MV (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.51 - 0.88, p = 0.004) and experiencing SAEs (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.69 - 0.91, p = 0.0009). Conclusion: Conclusively, repositioned anticancer treatment was shown significant differences from SOCs in treating CINPs, which appears to be more associated with mortality, MV use, and SAE development reduction in CINPs.
ABSTRACT
In this study, we evaluated 62 sow sera samples from PED-vaccinated sows to compare the serum neutralizing test (SNT) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We performed protein ELISA (pELISA) using fragments of spike proteins S1, S2, S3 and entire nucleocapsid proteins, and found a correlation between the SNT and ELISA in PEDV-vaccinated sera. Sera with higher neutralizing activity showed higher titers of IgG. In the antibody profiling, the neutralizing activities are correlated with the levels of the spike antibody, especially the S3 region. We confirmed that the carboxy-terminal region, including the endodomain of the S protein, induced stronger neutralizing activity than the ectodomain. This region of the S protein could be useful for evaluating PED vaccine efficacy, and it is a strong neutralizing epitope of PEDV. The S3 protein could be useful for evaluating PED vaccine efficacy, and it is a strong neutralizing epitope of PEDV.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag rapid test device using nasal swabs and those of the SSf-COVID19 kit, one of RT-PCR tests, using saliva specimens. These tests were compared with RT-PCR tests using nasopharyngeal swabs for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The three diagnostic tests were simultaneously conducted for patients aged ≥ 18 years, who were about to be hospitalized or had been admitted for COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR in two research hospitals from August 20 to October 29, 2021. Nasal swabs were tested using the Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag rapid test device. More than 1 mL of saliva was self-collected and tested using the SSf-COVID19 kit. RESULTS: In total, 157 patients were investigated; 124 patients who were about to be hospitalized and 33 patients already admitted for COVID-19. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag rapid test device with nasal swabs were 64.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 47.9-78.5%) and 100.0% (95% CI 97.0-100.0%), respectively. The median time to confirm a positive result was 180 s (interquartile range 60-255 s). The overall sensitivity and specificity of the SSf-COVID19 kit with saliva specimens were 94.1% (95% CI 80.9-98.4%) and 100.0% (95% CI 97.0-100.0%), respectively.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , COVID-19/diagnosis , SARS-CoV-2 , Hospitalization , Saliva , Hospitals , Sensitivity and Specificity , NasopharynxABSTRACT
With the development of robot technology, robot utilization is expanding in industrial fields and everyday life. To employ robots in various fields wherein humans and robots share the same space, human safety must be guaranteed in the event of a human-robot collision. Therefore, criteria and limitations of safety need to be defined and well clarified. In this study, we induced mechanical pain in humans through quasi-static contact by an algometric device (at 29 parts of the human body). A manual apparatus was developed to induce and monitor a force and pressure. Forty healthy men participated voluntarily in the study. Physical quantities were classified based on pain onset and maximum bearable pain. The overall results derived from the trials pertained to the subjective concept of pain, which led to considerable inter-individual variation in the onset and threshold of pain. Based on the results, a quasi-static contact pain evaluation method was established, and biomechanical safety limitations on forces and pressures were formulated. The pain threshold attributed to quasi-static contact can serve as a safety standard for the robots employed.
Subject(s)
Pain Threshold , Robotics , Humans , Industry , Male , Pain , Pain MeasurementABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has made transportation hubs vulnerable to public health risks. In response, policies using nonpharmaceutical interventions have been implemented, changing the way individuals interact within these facilities. However, the impact of building design and operation on policy efficacy is not fully discovered, making it critical to investigate how these policies are perceived and complied in different building spaces. Therefore, we investigate the spatial drivers of user perceptions and policy compliance in airports. Using text mining, we analyze 103,428 Google Maps reviews of 64 major hub airports in the US to identify representative topics of passenger concerns in airports (i.e., Staff, Shop, Space, and Service). Our results show that passengers express having positive experiences with Staff and Shop, but neutral or negative experiences with Service and Space, which indicates how building design has impacted policy compliance and the vulnerability of health crises. Furthermore, we discuss the actual review comments with respect to 1) spatial design and planning, 2) gate assignment and operation, 3) airport service policy, and 4) building maintenance, which will construct the foundational knowledge to improve the resilience of transportation hubs to future health crises.
ABSTRACT
Scientists all over the world are facing a challenging task of finding effective therapeutics for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). One of the fastest ways of finding putative drug candidates is the use of computational drug discovery approaches. The purpose of the current study is to retrieve natural compounds that have obeyed to drug-like properties as potential inhibitors. Computational molecular modelling techniques were employed to discover compounds with potential SARS-CoV-2 inhibition properties. Accordingly, the InterBioScreen (IBS) database was obtained and was prepared by minimizing the compounds. To the resultant compounds, the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET) and Lipinski's Rule of Five was applied to yield drug-like compounds. The obtained compounds were subjected to molecular dynamics simulation studies to evaluate their stabilities. In the current article, we have employed the docking based virtual screening method using InterBioScreen (IBS) natural compound database yielding two compounds has potential hits. These compounds have demonstrated higher binding affinity scores than the reference compound together with good pharmacokinetic properties. Additionally, the identified hits have displayed stable interaction results inferred by molecular dynamics simulation results. Taken together, we advocate the use of two natural compounds, STOCK1N-71493 and STOCK1N-45683 as SARS-CoV-2 treatment regime.