HMCES protein promotes the replication of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in Vero cells

Objective: To identify the key host protein that can regulate the replication of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV).

Detection method for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and clinical application

To determine if a method to detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 can be applied clinically. In this retrospective study, the sera samples of 39 patients with newly diagnosed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) and 90 healthy people were analyzed by antibody-detection reagents within enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The sera samples of confirmed cases at different onset times and 40 suspected cases were also tested. Then. we combined the results of antibody tests. nucleic-acid tests, and patient data. The sensitivity and specificity for SARS-COV-2-specific total antibodies was 92.31% and 100%, respectively. The production time of total antibodies in serum samples increased with time. and the median detection time was 13 days. The result of antibody testing of one confirmed case preceded the result of the nucleic-acid test. Moreover, the antibodies 0f 40 suspected cases were all negative. Detection of the total antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 can be used as an auxiliary diagnostic indicator of infection by this virus, as well as a supplementary means to exclude suspected cases/populations in areas with a high prevalence of negative detection of the nucleic acids of SARS-CoV-2.

Effects of health-promoting leadership, employee health on employee engagement: employability as moderating variable

PurposeEmployee health is a major challenge for enterprises. Fostering a healthy work environment and promoting employee engagement are key to addressing this challenge. Health-promoting leadership and employee health are the driving forces of corporate development;at the same time, employability is the core element of employee relations. Based on self-determination theory, this study aims to explore the effects of health-promoting leadership and employee health on employee engagement in light of employee employability.Design/methodology/approachThe data of this study encompass 723 valid questionnaires from employees of MSME in China. This study focuses on health-promoting leadership and employee health, engagement relationship and the above relationship moderating by employability.FindingsHealth-promoting leadership plays a key role in the workplace, results show that health-promoting leadership has a positive impact on employee health and employee engagement, while employee health did not have a positive effect on employee engagement. Employability negatively moderated the relationship between employee health and employee engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is based on cross-sectional survey data collected at the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic rapidly and continuously changed the organizational responses to employee health. Future studies could utilize longitudinal methods or focus on measurement instruments of the culture of health, to create additional insights about health promoting.Originality/valueThis study adds important knowledge regarding health-promoting leadership and employee health in Chinese MSMEs, an area for which limited research exists. The findings provide insights and knowledge about health-promoting leadership how to affect employee health and to improve engagement outcomes. The findings also identify the moderating role of employability.

Remote Sensing of Urban Poverty and Gentrification

In the past few decades, most urban areas in the world have been facing the pressure of an increasing population living in poverty. A recent study has shown that up to 80% of the population of some cities in Africa fall under the poverty line. Other studies have shown that poverty is one of the main contributors to residents’ poor health and social conflict. Reducing the number of people living in poverty and improving their living conditions have become some of the main tasks for many nations and international organizations. On the other hand, urban gentrification has been taking place in the poor neighborhoods of all major cities in the world. Although gentrification can reduce the poverty rate and increase the GDP and tax revenue of cities and potentially bring opportunities for poor communities, it displaces the original residents of the neighborhoods, negatively impacting their living and access to social services. In order to support the sustainable development of cities and communities and improve residents’ welfare, it is essential to identify the location, scale, and dynamics of urban poverty and gentrification, and remote sensing can play a key role in this. This paper reviews, summarizes, and evaluates state-of-the-art approaches for identifying and mapping urban poverty and gentrification with remote sensing, GIS, and machine learning techniques. It also discusses the pros and cons of remote sensing approaches in comparison with traditional approaches. With remote sensing approaches, both spatial and temporal resolutions for the identification of poverty and gentrification have been dramatically increased, while the economic cost is significantly reduced.

Effects of health-promoting leadership, employee health on employee engagement: employability as moderating variable

Purpose Employee health is a major challenge for enterprises. Fostering a healthy work environment and promoting employee engagement are key to addressing this challenge. Health-promoting leadership and employee health are the driving forces of corporate development;at the same time, employability is the core element of employee relations. Based on self-determination theory, this study aims to explore the effects of health-promoting leadership and employee health on employee engagement in light of employee employability. Design/methodology/approach The data of this study encompass 723 valid questionnaires from employees of MSME in China. This study focuses on health-promoting leadership and employee health, engagement relationship and the above relationship moderating by employability. Findings Health-promoting leadership plays a key role in the workplace, results show that health-promoting leadership has a positive impact on employee health and employee engagement, while employee health did not have a positive effect on employee engagement. Employability negatively moderated the relationship between employee health and employee engagement. Research limitations/implications This study is based on cross-sectional survey data collected at the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic rapidly and continuously changed the organizational responses to employee health. Future studies could utilize longitudinal methods or focus on measurement instruments of the culture of health, to create additional insights about health promoting. Originality/value This study adds important knowledge regarding health-promoting leadership and employee health in Chinese MSMEs, an area for which limited research exists. The findings provide insights and knowledge about health-promoting leadership how to affect employee health and to improve engagement outcomes. The findings also identify the moderating role of employability.

Application of QR code in three-level pre-viewing triage system in a hospital's responding Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market COVID-19 epidemic

OBJECTIVE: To explore the scientific value of the three-level pre-viewing triage management practice by using "Alipay" health code and self-developed electronic version of screening table QR code to assist COVID-19 screening in a general hospital. METHODS: During Beijing Xinfadi wholesale market COVID-19 epidemic, the definition of epidemiological history and clinical symptom case of pre-viewing and triage were determined by referring to the COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol(Trial Seventh Edition). Through strengthening hospital import and export management, setting up the pre-viewing triage points scientifically, improving the three-level pre-viewing triage process by using information technology to improve efficiency, the three-level pre-viewing triage system was strictly implement. Data included information released by the country and the region, daily reports on the workload of the hospital. RESULTS: During the epidemic period in Beijing(June 11-July 5), the number of online appointments and the number of general outpatient clinics showed a downward trend compared with before and after period, and the difference was significant(P<0.05). The number of fever outpatient during the epidemic period in Xinfadi wholesale market accounted for 2.1%(6 647/322 041) of the total number of visits during the epidemic period, which was positively correlated with the number of confirmed cases in Xinfadi wholesale market(r_s=0.755). During the same period, the hospital confirmed 2 cases of coronal virus disease and 3 cases of asymptomatic infection;25 cases with positive epidemiological history and 920 cases with fever were detected, and all of them were guided to the fever clinic in an orderly manner. All medical staff and patients had zero infection. CONCLUSION: The three-level pre-viewing triage system is conductive to reduce the risk of nosocomial infection. The application of "QR code" is of great significance to improve the efficiency of pre-viewing triage and to achieve precise prevention and control of epidemics.

Furin cleavage of the SARS-CoV-2 spike is modulated by O-glycosylation (preprint)

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus responsible for the global pandemic contains a unique furin cleavage site in the spike protein (S) that increases viral infectivity and syncytia formation. Here, we show that O-glycosylation near the furin cleavage site is mediated by specific members of the GALNT enzyme family and is dependent on the novel proline at position 681 (P681). We further demonstrate that O-glycosylation of S decreases furin cleavage. Finally, we show that GALNT family members capable of glycosylating S are expressed in human respiratory cells that are targets for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our results suggest that O-glycosylation may influence viral infectivity/tropism by modulating furin cleavage of S and provide mechanistic insight into the potential role of P681 mutations in the recently identified, highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant.

A Novel Triage Tool of Artificial Intelligence Assisted Diagnosis Aid System for Suspected COVID-19 pneumonia In Fever Clinics (preprint)

Currently, the prevention and control of COVID-19 outside Hubei province in China, and other countries has become more and more critically serious. We developed and validated a diagnosis aid model without CT images for early identification of suspected COVID-19 pneumonia (S-COVID-19-P) on admission in adult fever patients and made the validated model available via an online triage calculator. Patients admitted from Jan 14 to Feb 26, 2020 with the epidemiological history of exposure to COVID-19 were included [Model development (n = 132) and validation (n = 32)]. Candidate features included clinical symptoms, routine laboratory tests and other clinical information on admission. Features selection and model development were based on Lasso regression. The primary outcome is the development and validation of a diagnosis aid model for S-COVID-19-P early identification on admission. The development cohort contains 26 S-COVID-19-P and 7 confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia cases. The model performance in held-out testing set and validation cohort resulted in AUCs of 0.841 and 0.938, F-1 score of 0.571 and 0.667, recall of 1.000 and 1.000, specificity of 0.727 and 0.778, and the precision of 0.400 and 0.500. Based on this model, an optimized strategy for S-COVID-19-P early identification in fever clinics has also been designed. S-COVID-19-P could be identified early by a machine-learning model only used collected clinical information without CT images on admission in fever clinics with 100% recall score. The well performed and validated model has been deployed as an online triage tool, which is available at: https://intensivecare.shinyapps.io/COVID19/.

Crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein RNA binding domain reveals potential unique drug targeting sites (preprint)

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus continually lead to worldwide human infections and deaths. It is currently no specific viral protein targeted therapeutics yet. Viral nucleocapsid protein is a potential antiviral drug target, serving multiple critical functions during the viral life cycle. However, the structural information of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein is yet to be clear. Herein, we have determined the 2.7 [A] crystal structure of the N-terminal RNA binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein. Although overall structure is similar with other reported coronavirus nucleocapsid protein N-terminal domain, the surface electrostatic potential characteristics between them are distinct. Further comparison with mild virus type HCoV-OC43 equivalent domain demonstrates a unique potential RNA binding pocket alongside the {beta}-sheet core. Complemented by in vitro binding studies, our data provide several atomic resolution features of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein N-terminal domain, guiding the design of novel antiviral agents specific targeting to SARS-CoV-2.