ABSTRACT
Purpose : To explore associations between sensory impairment (vision and/or hearing) and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the adult 2020 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) population. Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted using the 2020 CHIS, the nation's largest state health survey with a sample representative of the population of California. The exposure of interest was having sensory impairment, defined as answering “Yes” to the question, “Are you blind or deaf, or do you have a severe vision or hearing problem?” The outcome of interest was whether a health professional suspected the respondent had COVID-19, assessed among those adults who had or thought they had COVID-19 and contacted a health professional. Logistic regression models were constructed to determine the odds of suspected COVID-19 by sensory impairment status, controlling for the following covariates: age, sex, race/ethnicity, self-reported general health status, current smoking habits, overweight/obese body mass index, and current health insurance status. All analyses were weighted according to the CHIS sampling design. Results : A total of 21,949 sampled participants were included, representing a weighted estimate of 29,684,882 individuals. The weighted prevalence of sensory impairment was 5.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.4-6.4%). Approximately 10.9% (95% CI: 10.3-11.6%) of all participants had or thought they had COVID-19, 4.9% (95% CI: 4.5-5.3%) contacted a health professional about COVID-19 concerns, and 1.7% (95% CI: 1.4-2.0%) were suspected of having COVID-19 by a health professional. Regression analyses were performed in a subgroup of 988 participants representing 1,431,690 individuals who had or thought they had COVID-19 and contacted a health professional. Those with sensory impairment had 2.12 times the unadjusted odds of suspected COVID-19 compared to those without sensory impairment (odds ratio [OR]: 2.12, 95% CI: 0.98-4.63). Those with sensory impairment had 2.51 times the adjusted odds of suspected COVID-19 compared to those without sensory impairment (adjusted OR: 2.51, 95% CI: 1.03-6.10). Conclusions : In the 2020 CHIS adult population, individuals with vision and/or hearing impairment had greater odds of having COVID-19 suspected by a health professional. Additional studies are necessary to triangulate these findings and further explore this possible increased risk for COVID-19 in this vulnerable population.
ABSTRACT
The integration of the global economy has led to an increasingly strong connection between the futures and spot markets of commodities. First, based on one-minute high-frequency prices, this paper applies the thermal optimal path (TOP) method to examine the lead-lag relationship between Chinese crude oil futures and spot from March 2018 to December 2021. Second, we apply the Mixed Frequency Data Sampling Regression (MIDAS) model and indicators such as deviation degree to test the degree of prediction of high-frequency prices in the futures market to the spot market. The experimental results show that the futures markets lead the spot market most of the time, but the lead effect reverses when major events occur;60-minute futures high-frequency prices are the most predictive of daily spot data;crude oil futures' predictive power declined after the Covid-19 outbreak and is more predictive when night trading is available. This study has important implications, not only to guide investors but also to provide empirical evidence and valid information for policy makers.
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Background: There is currently no approved treatment for patients with COVID-19 who have not been hospitalized, a setting in which early intervention may curb progression to more severe disease requiring hospitalization. We report longitudinal biomarker sampling from a Phase III (PINETREE) clinical trial to evaluate prognostic biomarkers of COVID-19 and to better understand the early remdesivir (RDV) treatment response. Methods: A Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, multicenter study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of RDV for outpatients with early stage COVID-19 who are at higher risk of disease progression (NCT04501952). Inclusion criteria were ≥60 years of age or ≥12 years of age with at least one risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease. All individuals had ≤7 days of symptoms prior to randomization. A total of 562 participants were randomized 1:1 to RDV or placebo. Serum and plasma were collected for biomarker analyses in 312 patients at days 1, 3, and 14 post-treatment. All biomarker values were adjusted for baseline age and stratified by sex. Results: RDV demonstrated an 87% reduction in risk for the primary composite endpoint of COVID-19-related hospitalization or all-cause death by day 28 (0.7% [2/279]) compared with placebo (5.3% [15/283]) (p=0.008). RDV treatment was associated with improved clinical outcomes in participants with higher risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19, including individuals ≥60 years of age, males, and/or those with diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Furthermore, we found that biomarkers associated with inflammation and coagulation, including lactate dehydrogenase (p<0.001) and procalcitonin (p<0.001), were prognostic for COVID-19 related hospitalization or all-cause death by day 28. Finally, we found that RDV improved some biomarkers associated with COVID-19 severity by day 3 of treatment, including peripheral lymphopenia, monocyte count, and decreased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio compared to placebo (pWilcox<0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that RDV treatment improves COVID-19 outcomes in high-risk SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, particularly in those ≥60 years of age, male, and/or with diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Biomarkers of COVID-19 severity that were prognostic for poor outcomes were identified in early infection. Furthermore, our results suggest that RDV treatment leads to more rapid recovery in the lymphopenia that is commonly associated with more severe COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
Corona virus disease 2019 is an acute infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and has entered the state of global pandemic. Spike protein ( S protein) , a key protein that mediates SARS-CoV-2 to infect host cells, has the characteristics of specific receptor binding and membrane fusion, playing an important role in host tropism and virulence. The spontaneous closed and open conformation of S protein trimer is crucial for receptor binding and initiation of conformational changes in membrane fusion, and its unique furin recognition site may be a crucial factor leading to high infectivity. Therefore, to study the structure and function of SARS-CoV-2 S protein and its receptor has important implications for invasion mechanisms of SARS- CoV-2 and the development of relevant targeted drugs.
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Using surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization, temperature-responsive block polymers were functionalized on the surface of silica nanocapsules (SNCs) by a "grafting from" technique. Favipiravir, a potential medicine candidate for the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was encapsulated in polymer-coated SNCs and further incorporated into welldefined films by layer-by-layer self-assembly. The multilayer films composed of polymer-coated SNCs and poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) homopolymers exhibited swelling/deswelling behaviors under the trigger of a temperature stimulus. For the first time, the impact of steric hindrance on the assembling behavior, swelling/ deswelling transition, and delivering capacity of nanocapsule-based multilayer films was investigated. SNCs with coronae of higher steric hindrance resulted in a larger layering distance during film growth. Moreover, the difference in the sustained release rates of the drug indicated their diverse diffusion coefficients and intermolecular interactions within the multilayer films, due to the presence of a methyl spacer at the amino group of nanocapsule coronae and weaker ionic pairing between SNC coronae and PMAA homopolymers. The profile of drug release from the films was dependent on the temperature value of the surrounding environment. At 37 and 40 degrees C, the films were able to efficiently entrap favipiravir, with as low as 50% released in 80 days, whereas a faster favipiravir release was triggered by exposure to a lower temperature value at 25 degrees C. This work demonstrates the first proof-of-concept platform of temperature-responsive SNC-incorporated multilayered films with a well-defined internal structure and a sustained release profile for on-demand in vitro drug delivery.
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P130 Figure 1Features of COVID-19 on the CT were very common in hospitalised patients and were related to all-cause mortality one year following hospitalisation[Figure omitted. See PDF]ConclusionEvidence of COVID-19 pneumonia on CTT is more common and severe in patients from ethnic minority groups and is independently associated with worse prognosis following hospitalisation.