SARS-CoV-2 restructures host chromatin architecture.

Some viruses restructure host chromatin, influencing gene expression, with implications for disease outcome. Whether this occurs for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, is largely unknown. Here we characterized the 3D genome and epigenome of human cells after SARS-CoV-2 infection, finding widespread host chromatin restructuring that features widespread compartment A weakening, A-B mixing, reduced intra-TAD contacts and decreased H3K27ac euchromatin modification levels. Such changes were not found following common-cold-virus HCoV-OC43 infection. Intriguingly, the cohesin complex was notably depleted from intra-TAD regions, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 disrupts cohesin loop extrusion. These altered 3D genome/epigenome structures correlated with transcriptional suppression of interferon response genes by the virus, while increased H3K4me3 was found in the promoters of pro-inflammatory genes highly induced during severe COVID-19. These findings show that SARS-CoV-2 acutely rewires host chromatin, facilitating future studies of the long-term epigenomic impacts of its infection.

The impact of COVID-19 on plastic and reconstructive surgery in China: A single-centre retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the volume of plastic surgery operations in a large public hospital and figure out the changes in the related factors associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and identify the potential problems. METHODS: We created a survey and collected clinical data from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020. Information on procedure time, patient gender, patient age, and procedure type was collected from the database. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 25.0. RESULTS: A total of 10,827 patients were admitted to our department. The total number of patients decreased by 21.53% in 2020 (3057 cases) than the same period in 2019 (3896 cases). The total number of aesthetic procedures decreased by 34.17% in 2020 than that in 2019. However, restorative procedures in 2020 (2013 cases) only decreased by 12.86% than that in 2019 (2310 cases). The percentages of women amongst patients who underwent aesthetic procedures were 91.75%, 92.18%, and 90.71% in 2018, 2019, and 2020, respectively. Most of the patients in these three years were aged 20-29 years. CONCLUSIONS: The plastic surgery industry is experiencing the effects of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. COVID-19 was quickly brought under control, and the plastic surgery industry developed rapidly in China because of the active, timely, and accurate implementation of epidemic prevention strategies.

Serum metabolomic abnormalities in survivors of non-severe COVID-19.

Metabolic reprogramming is a distinctive characteristic of SARS-CoV-2 infection, which refers to metabolic changes in hosts triggered by viruses for their survival and spread. It is current urgent to understand the metabolic health status of COVID-19 survivors and its association with long-term health consequences of infection, especially for the predominant non-severe patients. Herein, we show systemic metabolic signatures of survivors of non-severe COVID-19 from Wuhan, China at six months after discharge using metabolomics approaches. The serum amino acids, organic acids, purine, fatty acids and lipid metabolism were still abnormal in the survivors, but the kynurenine pathway and the level of itaconic acid have returned to normal. These metabolic abnormalities are associated with liver injury, mental health, energy production, and inflammatory responses. Our findings identify and highlight the metabolic abnormalities in survivors of non-severe COVID-19, which provide information on biomarkers and therapeutic targets of infection and cues for post-hospital care and intervention strategies centered on metabolism reprogramming.

Polarity-Dominated Stable N97 Respirators for Airborne Virus Capture Based on Nanofibrous Membranes.

The longevity and reusability of N95-grade filtering facepiece respirators (N95 FFRs) are limited by consecutive donning and disinfection treatments. Herein, we developed stable N97 nanofibrous respirators based on chemically modified surface to enable remarkable filtration characteristics via polarity driven interaction. This was achieved by a thin-film coated polyacrylonitrile nanofibrous membrane (TFPNM), giving an overall long-lasting filtration performance with high quality factor at 0.42 Pa-1 (filtration efficiency: over 97 %; pressure drop: around 10 Pa), which is higher than that of the commercial N95 FFRs (0.10-0.41 Pa-1 ) tested with a flow rate of 5 L min-1 and the 0.26 µm NaCl aerosol. A coxsackie B4 virus filtration test demonstrated that TFPNM also had strong virus capture capacity of 97.67 %. As compared with N95 FFRs, the TFPNM was more resistant to a wider variety of disinfection protocols, and the overall filtration characteristics remained N97 standard.

Study on the relationship between crisis awareness and medical waste separation behavior shown by residents during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Specific awareness is an important factor that affects individual behavioral decisions. This study explored the relationship between crisis awareness and medical waste separation behavior shown by urban residents during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. The results of a questionnaire survey data (N = 668) were subjected to statistical analyses, regression analyses, and cross-analyses. In terms of medical waste separation, the detection rate was 12.65%, among which, the waste separation behavior by citizens was the highest (24.56%). In terms of the relationship between crisis awareness and medical waste separation behavior, the crisis awareness generated by the environmental situation is significantly related to individuals' participation in the separation of medical waste. In particular, individual spontaneous crisis awareness only had a significant positive correlation with the waste separation behavior for the decision factor. The residents were clustered into "sensitive", "conscious", "passive", and "insensitive" types based on the original crisis awareness characteristics. The "sensitive" group was more actively involved in the separation of medical waste, while the "insensitive" group showed the worst performance for the separation of medical waste. A comparison of the separation behaviors shown by the "conscious" group and the "passive" group confirmed that environment-driven crisis awareness has a higher correlation with the separation of medical waste by residents.

The dynamics of social support and affective well-being before and during COVID: An experience sampling study.

Based on the dynamic motivational activation (DMA) theoretical framework, this study examines the dynamic, reciprocal relationship between social support and affective well-being in both face-to-face (F2F) and online channels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using experience sampling method, 2002 surveys on F2F and online interactions were collected from 64 participants. Dynamic panel modeling results showed that emotional support was associated with lower emotional discomfort toward F2F and online social interactions. Then, the emotional discomfort toward the F2F interactions drove the subsequent pursuit of emotional support, practical support, and informational support on the online channels. Additionally, findings suggested that individuals were more likely to obtain informational support via F2F communication after experiencing stronger emotional discomfort online during the pandemic.

Testing three explanations for stigmatization of people of Asian descent during COVID-19: maladaptive coping, biased media use, or racial prejudice?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate factors associated with the stigmatization of people of Asian descent during COVID-19 in the United States and factors that can mitigate or prevent stigmatization. DESIGN: A national sample survey of adults (N = 842) was conducted online between May 11 and May 19, 2020. Outcome variables were two dimensions of stigmatization, responsibility and persons as risk. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Racial prejudice, maladaptive coping, and biased media use each explained stigmatization. Racial prejudice, comprising stereotypical beliefs and emotion toward Asian Americans, was a stronger predictor of stigmatization than maladaptive coping or biased media use. Fear concerning the ongoing COVID-19 situation and the use of social media and partisan cable TV also predicted stigmatization. Low self-efficacy in dealing with COVID-19, when associated with high estimated harm of COVID-19, increased stigmatization. High perceived institutional efficacy in the handling of COVID-19 increased stigmatization when linked to high estimated harm of COVID-19. On the other hand, high perceived collective efficacy in coping with COVID-19 was associated with low stigmatization. More indirect contacts with Asians via the media predicted less stigmatization. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to reduce stigmatization should address racial stereotypes and emotions, maladaptive coping, and biased media use by providing education and resources to the public. Fostering collective efficacy and media-based contacts with Asian Americans can facilitate these efforts.