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Background The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant has demonstrated high transmissibility and possesses several spike protein mutations that allow for evasion of previously established immunity.1 mRNA vaccines against the spike protein of the ancestral strain of the virus have been reported to induce robust T cell immunity against the omicron variant when examined in healthy individuals. 2 However, the effectiveness of the booster vaccine doses in late-stage lung cancer patients undergoing active anti-PD-1/ PD-L1 agent immunotherapy has yet to be investigated.3 Methods To address this question, we assessed both CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses using a modified activationinduced marker (AIM) assay that was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), which was coupled with high dimension spectral flow cytometry analyses. The PBMCs were obtained using cryopreserved blood samples collected from The COVID-19 Vaccine Study of Infections and Immune REspoNse (SIIREN) trial, and a total of 51 patient samples (20 non-cancer patients and 31 lung cancer patients) were assessed. Results Our observations included that booster vaccines induced CD8+ T cell response in both non-cancer subjects and lung cancer patients against ancestral strain and omicron variant, while only marginal induction or trend was detected for CD4+ T cells in normal subjects. Pertinent results also consisted of identification of distinct subpopulation dynamics involving varying degrees of differentiation of antigen-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cells in lung cancer patients compared to non-cancer subjects, thus demonstrating evidence of dysfunction. Another noteworthy finding included the observation of sex biased T cell responses with female lung cancer patients demonstrating more efficient antigen-specific T cell responses compared to males. Conclusions We conclude that lung cancer patients in our study cohort have substantial qualitative deviation in their T cell response to mRNA vaccine from the normal individuals. This altered response may be a consequence of altered T cell differentiation states, resulting in the high degree of heterogeneity of AIM+ T cells identified in booster vaccinated individuals. Moreover, the dampened T cell response to omicron in cancer patients could implicate that less protection was established by vaccination for lung cancer patients, especially given that humoral response is also reduced in cancer patients.4 This further highlights the need for heightened protective measures for cancer patients to minimize the risk of breakthrough infection with the omicron and other future variants of SARS-CoV-2.5.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, our group evaluates the effect of Covid-19 on the stock prices of the top 10 American airline companies and the NYSE Arca Airline Index using event study methodology. We accomplish this by comparing the Actual Returns and Expected Returns of an airline stock. We derive our Expected Return through a linear regression model between the airline stock returns and the market returns. We then subtract the Expected Return from the Actual Return to find the Abnormal Return. After that, we construct a confidence interval to test the significance of the Abnormal Return. If the Abnormal Return exceeds the confidence interval, we claim that Covid-19 had a significant effect on the stock price of our chosen Airlines. Our group's results showed that Covid-19 had a significant impact on the airline industry. We also looked at the impact of government-issued relief and mass vaccination, and we saw that airline stock prices recovered slowly but steadily. © 2021 IEEE.
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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pneumonia has been classified as a category B and dealt with as a category A infectious disease by the National Health Commission of China, and also as a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization. During the epidemic, unnecessary visits to hospitals may increase the risk of infection among patients and clinicians. Therefore, it is particularly important to provide some scientific medical guidance for patients with male diseases, which is also a current imperative for andrology management. And it also deserves the attention of clinical researchers whether COVID-19 pneumonia and its clinical treatments currently used may affect the male reproductive system.
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Background: Winter wheat is the main cereal crop grown in the in dry and half-dry area of the world, especially under the condition that COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, winter wheat is still a very important food supply for the people in China and other countries. Even average yields of winter wheat in many countries have increased by 40% over past five decades due to development of new cultivars, improvements of crop management practices and changes of favorable climate;however, water shortage is becoming an important factor limiting sustainable winter wheat production. So more and more researchers emphasize on how to increase winter wheat yield and water use efficiency at the same time. Magnetic water technology is supposed to be an eco-friendly tool used for improving yield in the agricultural sector. And many researchers investigated the effect of the magnetic water on the seed germination, crop growth and yield.Objective: In order to examine whether there are any beneficial effects of magnetic treatment of irrigation water on the growth, yield and water use efficiency of winter wheat, a field experiment was conducted in 2017-2018 year and 2018-2019 year in the North China Plain (NCP). Method: The experiment area was 20 m×9 m and randomized block design with three replications. The magnetic field was produced by the electromagnet (Jinan Yishui Tech. Dev Co. Ltd.) with an intensity of 0.2 Tesla. Three treatments were arranged: seeds magnetized+ magnetized water irrigation (T1), normal seeds + magnetized water irrigation (T2), normal seeds + normal water irrigation (T3) and T3 is the control experiment. The Zhou 22 winter wheat was used and put in the electromagnet 5 minutes before planting. The T1 and T2 treatments were irrigated with the magnetized water, while T3 plots were irrigated with untreated water of the same source. Result: The results demonstrated that magnetized water irrigation could promote the growth of winter wheat and increase yield and water use efficiency with different levels. It also indicated that magnetized water irrigation increased winter wheat plant height, leaf area index, leaf SPAD value. Compared with the T3 control treatment, the increased percentage of the effective panicle number of T1 and T2 treatments were 3.09%~6.56% and 2.88%~4.95%;The increased percentage of the spikelet number of T1 and T2 treatments were 5.28%~6.75% and 4.05%~5.87%. Compared with the T3 treatment, the increased rate of the grain yield of T1 and T2 treatments were 6.14%~8.99% and 5.20%~7.24%. Conclusion: The evidence also showed that magnetized water irrigation can promote dry matter accumulation above ground of winter wheat, and the increased effective panicle number and spikelet number make great contribution to the high yield of magnetized water irrigation. And also water use efficiency of T1 and T2 treatments increased by 3.13%and 2.58%(2018 year)and 5.08% and 5.65% (2019 year). The results provided a scientific basis for the magnetic water application for the winter wheat in dry and half-dry area. © 2020, Editorial Office of Journal of Irrigation and Drainage. All right reserved.
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To describe the laboratory findings of cases of death with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to establish a scoring system for predicting death, we conducted this single-centre, retrospective, observational study including 336 adult patients (≥18 years old) with severe or critically ill COVID-19 admitted in two wards of Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, who had definite outcomes (death or discharge) between 1 February 2020 and 13 March 2020. Single variable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify mortality-related factors. We combined multiple factors to predict mortality, which was validated by receiver operating characteristic curves. As a result, in a total of 336 patients, 34 (10.1%) patients died during hospitalisation. Through multivariable logistic regression, we found that decreased lymphocyte ratio (Lymr, %) (odds ratio, OR 0.574, P < 0.001), elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (OR 1.513, P = 0.009), and raised D-dimer (DD) (OR 1.334, P = 0.002) at admission were closely related to death. The combined prediction model was developed by these factors with a sensitivity of 100.0% and specificity of 97.2%. In conclusion, decreased Lymr, elevated BUN, and raised DD were found to be in association with death outcomes in critically ill patients with COVID-19. A scoring system was developed to predict the clinical outcome of these patients.