The Impact of the COVID Pandemic on Diverticulitis Surgery

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted maintenance healthcare and elective surgical volume, particularly for benign diseases, including diverticulitis. The study evaluates if the surgical management of diverticulitis was impacted by the pandemic. Method(s): All colectomies for diverticulitis in ACS-NSQIP between 2017-2020 were identified by CPT and ICD codes. Cases were divided into groups by the operation year and quarter variables. The first quarter of 2020 was excluded. The pre- COVID group included cases before 2020 and the post-COVID group included cases after the first quarter of 2020. Associations between groups and baseline demographics and postoperative outcomes were compared. Result(s): 46,839 colectomies were evaluated with 38,860 pre- COVID and 7,979 post-COVID. The groups were similar except for CHF(p=0.027) and ASA classification (p<0.001), which were higher post-COVID. However, pandemic cases were associated with significant markers of disease severity. Pandemic cases were more likely to have preoperative sepsis (p<0.001), wound class 4 (p<0.001), and emergency status (p<0.001). There was no difference in the rates of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) or conversion to open among MIS cases. There were also a higher percentage of Hartmann's procedures (p<0.001) post-COVID. However, there was no difference in mortality rates, length of stay, reoperation, open abdomen, readmission, reintubation, or prolonged intubation. There was an association between the pandemic and rates of postoperative pneumonia(p<0.001), ileus (p=0.003), and septic shock (p<0.001). Conclusion(s): During the first year of the pandemic diverticulitis surgeries were performed on sicker patients, more commonly emergencies, and Hartmann's procedures. However, these patients maintained comparable postoperative outcomes.

DENGUE PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS PREDICT DENGUE HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER WITH HIGH SENSITIVITY AND SPECIFICITY

Ninety-six million people are symptomatically infected with Dengue globally every year. Under the current standard-of-care, up to 20% of Dengue patients may be hospitalized, while only 500,000 develop Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and require hospitalization. This leads to unnecessary overwhelming of hospitals in tropical countries during large Dengue epidemics, especially when healthcare systems are grappling with large numbers of COVID-19 patients. Our research team set out to discover biomarkers to prognosticate Dengue patients, and augment the infectious disease clinician's decision-making process to hospitalize Dengue patients. Host biomarkers with concentrations significantly different between pooled serum samples of Dengue Fever (DF) patients and DHF patients were identified using protein array. The prognostication capabilities of selected biomarkers were then validated over 283 adult Dengue patients recruited from three Singapore tertiary hospitals, prior to the diagnosis of DHF. Three biomarkers (A2M, CMA1 and VEGFA) were identified that provide independent prognostication value from one another, and from clinical parameters commonly monitored in Dengue patients. The combination of all three biomarkers was able to identify from as early as Day 1 after the onset of fever, DF patients whose conditions will deteriorate into DHF. The biomarkers are robust and able to predict DHF well when trained on different AI/ML algorithms (logistic regression, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, AdaBoost and gradient boosting). When stacked, prediction models based on the biomarkers were able to predict DHF with 97.3% sensitivity, 92.7% specificity, 66.7% PPV, 99.6% NPV and an AUC of 0.978. To the best of our knowledge, our panel of three biomarkers offers the highest accuracy in prognosticating Dengue to date. Further studies are required to validate the biomarkers in different geographical settings and pilot their implementation as part of the standard-of-care workflow for Dengue patients. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Infectious Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Elbow and Forearm

As COVID-19 infection has spread globally as pandemic with a mortality rate around 5% and reaches over 10% in people over 60 years old and gets higher in older age groups, many patients postponed their clinic and hospital visits for the fear of catching the virus which in turn lead to serious complications due to negligence (Kucharski et al., Lancet Infect Dis 20(5):553-558, 2020). Telemedicine which is the use of technology to provide clinical health care is a necessary, vital, and a valuable option nowadays during such a pandemic (Hilty et al., Telemed J E Health 19(6):444-454, 2013). Telemedicine has many advantages as it is a feasible, accessible, fast, and an effective way to provide health care despite the geographical and time boundaries with a reduced cost thus improving patient's quality of life (Cary and Darkins, Telemedicine and telehealth: principles, policies, performance and pitfalls, Springer, Berlin, 2000). Though there are many obstacles and challenges in utilizing telemedicine as technology is not that accessible in third world countries. Moreover, some steps in the clinical examination are inapplicable to implement without an actual visit with a physical examination which is crucial in reaching the diagnosis (Daruwalla et al., JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2(2):e28, 2014). Elbow examination and assessment is one of the most applicable regions to be assessed through telemedicine. As we can analyze the patients complain and reach a proper diagnosis through three main items: a detailed history, followed by assessing the patient through inspection and special tests, and finally by ordering the proper investigations if needed in order to reach an appropriate diagnosis. In this article we will elaborate the role of telemedicine in assessment of various elbow pathologies through systematic virtual elbow assessment. Noted that in case of emergencies and inability to reach a definite diagnosis a consultation with an actual visit to a physician cannot be replaced. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022, corrected publication 2022.

Vaxx-Confident and Vaxx-Hesitant Agents: Factors Affecting COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness Among Young Adults in Klang Valley, Malaysia

In February 2021, the government of Malaysia started the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination with the frontlines, such as healthcare personnel, essential services, and defense and security personnel. This effort was followed by the second phase of vaccination between April to August 2021 with senior citizens and high-risk groups, followed by the third phase from May 2021 to February 2022 with individuals aged 18 and above. Though this plan has been widely publicized and seemed to be carried out as planned, not much is known about the reaction of young adults getting vaccinated. As such, the current research was conducted to examine the (1) willingness of Malaysian young adults to get vaccinated, (2) contributing factors, and (3) hindrance factors towards vaccination among young adults. A self-administered online survey method was employed in this study, with 306 Malaysian young adults living in Klang Valley as research samples. The findings indicated that 74.5% of the respondents were willing to get vaccinated and that most of them, regardless of their vaccination willingness, emphasized the salient role that reliable and trusted information plays in shaping their inclinations. Based on their reported willingness, the respondents were categorized into two categories: vaxx-confident and vaxx-hesitant agents. The agents of socialization that were analyzed and discussed were news and media, family members, government, and opinion leaders. The two-way socialization processes that promote and hinder their COVID-19 vaccination were further discussed and highlighted. © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.

Erratum: How Chemists Achieve Active Learning Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Using the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework to Support Remote Teaching (J. Chem. Educ. (2020) 97:9 (2512-2518) DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00541)

The Editor retracts this article (DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00541) following an investigation by the National University of Singapore. This investigation found that some of the published content had been used without proper permission or attribution. Additionally, Figure 5 has been duplicated from an online newsletter The Conversation (accessed January 12, 2023) without proper attribution. Based on the extent of these concerns, the article is being retracted. The original article was published on July 21, 2020 and retracted on February 14, 2023. © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Cycling profiles of unconfirmed syphilis repeat-reactive serology results during influenza and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns: September 2017-January 2022

Background: All donations at Canadian Blood Services (CBS) are screened for syphilis using a serology screening and confirmation test algorithm. Currently, syphilis repeat-reactive (RR) results lead to the indefinite deferral of CBS donors regardless of supplementary test results. We have previously described a temporal association of RR results with seasonal public health influenza vaccination campaigns that generally start in September and continue through winter. As of December 2020, there has also been an intensive COVID-19 public health vaccination campaign in Canada. Aims: To track temporal associations between RR, unconfirmed syphilis results among CBS blood donors and Canadian influenza and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Methods: All donations were tested on the PK 7300 instrument (Beckman Coulter;Brea, CA, USA) with the PK TP system test kit. Confirmatory laboratory testing was undertaken at reference laboratories using the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TP-PA) test. Syphilis RR results that did not confirm were obtained for CBS donations between September 2017 to January 2022. Data on donor influenza and COVID-19 vaccination histories, within 3 months of donation, were extracted. The temporal periodicity of unconfirmed syphilis RR results was graphed against vaccination data. Respiratory virus data were acquired from the Public Health Agency of Canada Respiratory Virus Detection Surveillance System. Results: Periodicity of RR, unconfirmed syphilis rates: September 2017-January 2022. Summary/Conclusions: We have previously noted a cyclical temporal trend in the number of RR, unconfirmed syphilis specimens with peaks corresponding to influenza vaccine campaigns or widespread community circulation of respiratory viruses. Although insufficient to establish a causal association, this analysis suggests that incidence of RR, unconfirmed syphilis results in Canadian blood donors may be variably influenced at different times of year by one or more of at least three factors: (1) influenza vaccination campaigns, (2) the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, and (3) circulation of respiratory viruses in the presence or absence of circulating seasonal influenza. Moreover, other mechanisms may affect these trends. For example, syphilis assays such as the PK TP test kit that detect IgM may be prone to false positive results that do not confirm either after influenza vaccine, COVID- 19 vaccination or during a respiratory virus season. (Table Presented).

Resilience of U.S. Rail Intermodal Freight during the Covid-19 Pandemic

The rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 marked a challenging time for the US and its freight industry. Manufacturing slowed, consumer purchasing patterns changed, and for many, shopping moved online. The freight industry suffered a sharp decline in shipments, followed by a surprisingly quick rebound. The industry had to adapt quickly to meet fast-changing demand and supply patterns upended by global supply chain disruptions. This paper uses U.S. intermodal activity data, supported by in-depth interviews with leaders of railroads, intermodal carriers, equipment manufacturers, car leasing companies, shippers, and e-commerce players to characterize and assess how the rail industry met the challenge of this demand whiplash and other performance impediments. What emerges is a rich picture of the multi-actor intermodal supply chain, the impacts of COVID-19 on it, the performance of the logistics system in general, and railroads in particular during the pandemic. Industry interviews revealed that a handful of choke points, many of which were outside the rail industry, complicated supply chain responses to COVID-19. The paper shows how the rail industry was an essential component of pandemic resilience, demonstrating a high level of adaptability to meet consumer and business demands. Through the use of depth interviews it reveals the complexity of the intermodal supply chain, and it accurately foretells the subsequent disruptions that continued to plague that supply chain long after the initial impacts of the pandemic.

Allelic variation in class I HLA determines CD8(+) T cell repertoire shape and cross-reactive memory responses to SARS-CoV-2

[Figure: see text].

Hands-On Laboratory Experience Using Adhesives for Remote Learning of Polymer Chemistry

Teaching chemistry without access to a traditional laboratory space is an ongoing challenge that has become especially relevant because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. While several remote learning options exist for covering general chemistry concepts (including kitchen-based experiments, online modules, and virtual reality), few options provide opportunities for hands-on learning about the chemistry of synthetic polymer materials. Here, we offer remote learning modules that use household adhesives as a platform for teaching polymer chemistry outside of the laboratory. These modules are designed for students who have taken at least one semester of organic chemistry and have varied hands-on time commitments, ranging from 2 to 10 total hours each. Concepts covered include polymer synthesis, intermolecular interactions, thermomechanical properties, structure–function relationships, and molecular design. The experiments described in these modules also give students a chance to practice research-relevant skills such as searching for primary literature sources, fabricating test samples, explaining unexpected experimental results, and revising experimental procedures to improve methodologies. Ultimately, these modules provide educators with an additional tool for teaching experimental chemistry outside of the laboratory.