A Comparative Study on Virology, Epidemiology, and Clinical Features of SARS and COVID-19.

In December 2019, an outbreak of an unknown cause of pneumonia (later named coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) occurred in Wuhan, China. This was found to be attributed to a novel coronavirus of zoonotic origin, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; previously named 2019 novel coronavirus or 2019-nCoV). The SARS-CoV-2, a new type of highly pathogenic human coronavirus related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), spread rapidly worldwide and caused 246,303,023 confirmed infections, including 4,994,160 deaths, by October 31, 2021. SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV vary in their specific characteristics, regarding epidemics and pathogenesis. This article focuses on the comparison of the virology, epidemiology, and clinical features of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 to reveal their common and distinct properties, to provide an up-to-date resource for the development of advanced systems and strategies to monitor and control future epidemics of highly pathogenic human coronaviruses.

Can Stringent Government Initiatives Lead to Global Economic Recovery Rapidly during the COVID-19 Epidemic?

This paper investigates the effectiveness of government measures implemented against COVID-19 and the factors influencing a country's economic growth from a global perspective. With the help of the data of the Government Response Stringency Index (GRSI), Google mobility, and confirmed COVID-19 daily cases, we conducted a panel model for 105 countries and regions from 11 March 2020 to 31 June 2021 to explore the effects of response policies in different countries against the pandemic. First, the results showed that staying in residential places had the strongest correlation with confirmed cases. Second, in countries with higher government stringency, stay-at-home policies carried out in the early spread of the pandemic had the most effective the impact. In addition, the results have also been strictly robustly analyzed by applying the propensity score matching (PSM) method. Third, after reconstructing a panel data of 47 OECD countries, we further concluded that governments should take stricter restrictive measures in response to COVID-19. Even though it may also cause a shock to the market in the short term, this may not be sustainable. As long as the policy response is justified, it will moderate the negative effect on the economy over time, and finally have a positive effect.

MicroRNAs: Important Regulatory Molecules in Acute Lung Injury/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an overactivated inflammatory response caused by direct or indirect injuries that destroy lung parenchymal cells and dramatically reduce lung function. Although some research progress has been made in recent years, the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS remains unclear due to its heterogeneity and etiology. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a type of small noncoding RNA, play a vital role in various diseases. In ALI/ARDS, miRNAs can regulate inflammatory and immune responses by targeting specific molecules. Regulation of miRNA expression can reduce damage and promote the recovery of ALI/ARDS. Consequently, miRNAs are considered as potential diagnostic indicators and therapeutic targets of ALI/ARDS. Given that inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS, we review the miRNAs involved in the inflammatory process of ALI/ARDS to provide new ideas for the pathogenesis, clinical diagnosis, and treatment of ALI/ARDS.