Sustainability Marketing as a Success Factor - The Path of Patagonia Before and After Covid-19

This paper takes a holistic look into Patagonia's marketing strategy that reflects its out-of-the ordinary viewpoint on the industry it operates in. With a short look into the pressing issues of the fashion industry, a focus on Patagonia's own weaknesses as well as its attempt to fix the same reveals a very successful and mostly authentic sustainability marketing strategy that has helped the business become increasingly successful in its own bottom line while raising awareness for the need to change. The methodology that is employed in this case study is qualitative in nature and uses primarily secondary sources. The case research suggests that the firm has significantly impacted the social outdoor fashion sector, and it has maintained a consistent and expanded focus on environmental and social responsibility goals and objectives. Patagonia has not discarded its values and priorities for the sake of making profit, even during the disruptive impact that the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic has had on the supply chain, demand, and profits.

The Management of Wrist Fractures During COVID-19: A Preliminary Report.

Background Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in the need for the virtual follow-up of patients. These innovations in clinical care have helped to reduce hospital attendance of patients and the spread of the virus. Injuries such as wrist fractures that are non-obligatory are increasingly being followed up virtually. This paper compares the early experience of management of wrist fractures in a District General Hospital in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown with a similar period before. Methods A retrospective study of the management and clinical follow-up of all skeletally mature patients seen in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department with a radiologically confirmed distal radius fracture after imposition of COVID-19 lockdown measures in the United Kingdom (between March 23, 2020 and May 24, 2020), and comparison with a control group of patients with distal radius fractures seen within a similar time frame the previous year (March 23, 2019 to May 24, 2019). Results During the COVID-19 lockdown, a total of 39 skeletally mature patients (85% females; average age of 70.4 years [SD: 14.6]) who had suffered a wrist fracture were seen. A total of 23% of the patients had surgical fixation. The others were managed conservatively and followed up regularly in the fracture clinic and by virtual telephone consultation in 15% (p > 0.05) compared to the previous year. Three patients who had an AO/OTA Type-C fracture were not keen on surgery, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients had their operations at 5.2 days post-injury on average compared to the pre-COVID average of 6.4 days post-injury. Conclusion This preliminary study showed that patients considered "high risk" (as per the UK government guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19) with low functional demands who had suffered fractures of the distal radius were followed up mostly virtually after their first A&E attendance, thereby eliminating unnecessary hospital attendances. There was no difference in the epidemiology of wrist fractures pre- and post-COVID-19 lockdown. No COVID-positive patients were treated. The limitations of this study are the fact that it is cross-sectional with a lack of patient-reported outcome measures (PROM). As this was only a preliminary study to assess initial results, it will be followed up by a full report assessing outcomes at defined intervals.

The circadian clock component BMAL1 regulates SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication in lung epithelial cells.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus, is a global health issue with unprecedented challenges for public health. SARS-CoV-2 primarily infects cells of the respiratory tract via spike glycoprotein binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2). Circadian rhythms coordinate an organism's response to its environment and can regulate host susceptibility to virus infection. We demonstrate that silencing the circadian regulator Bmal1 or treating lung epithelial cells with the REV-ERB agonist SR9009 reduces ACE2 expression and inhibits SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication. Importantly, treating infected cells with SR9009 limits SARS-CoV-2 replication and secretion of infectious particles, showing that post-entry steps in the viral life cycle are influenced by the circadian system. Transcriptome analysis revealed that Bmal1 silencing induced interferon-stimulated gene transcripts in Calu-3 lung epithelial cells, providing a mechanism for the circadian pathway to limit SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our study highlights alternative approaches to understand and improve therapeutic targeting of SARS-CoV-2.

Clinical validation of optimised RT-LAMP for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

We have optimised a reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 from extracted RNA for clinical application. We improved the stability and reliability of the RT-LAMP assay by the addition of a temperature-dependent switch oligonucleotide to reduce self- or off-target amplification. We then developed freeze-dried master mix for single step RT-LAMP reaction, simplifying the operation for end users and improving long-term storage and transportation. The assay can detect as low as 13 copies of SARS-CoV2 RNA per reaction (25-µL). Cross reactivity with other human coronaviruses was not observed. We have applied the new RT-LAMP assay for testing clinical extracted RNA samples extracted from swabs of 72 patients in the UK and 126 samples from Greece and demonstrated the overall sensitivity of 90.2% (95% CI 83.8-94.7%) and specificity of 92.4% (95% CI 83.2-97.5%). Among 115 positive samples which Ct values were less than 34, the RT-LAMP assay was able to detect 110 of them with 95.6% sensitivity. The specificity was 100% when RNA elution used RNase-free water. The outcome of RT-LAMP can be reported by both colorimetric detection and quantifiable fluorescent reading. Objective measures with a digitized reading data flow would allow for the sharing of results for local or national surveillance.

Circadian regulation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in lung epithelial cells (preprint)

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, is a global health issue with unprecedented challenges for public health. SARS-CoV-2 primarily infects cells of the respiratory tract, via binding human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), and infection can result in pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Circadian rhythms coordinate an organisms response to its environment and recent studies report a role for the circadian clock to regulate host susceptibility to virus infection. Influenza A infection of arhythmic mice, lacking the circadian component BMAL1, results in higher viral replication and elevated inflammatory responses leading to more severe bronchitis, highlighting the impact of circadian pathways in respiratory function. We demonstrate circadian regulation of ACE2 in lung epithelial cells and show that silencing BMAL1 or treatment with the synthetic REV-ERB agonist SR9009 reduces ACE2 expression and inhibits SARS-CoV-2 entry and RNA replication. Treating infected cells with SR9009 limits viral replication and secretion of infectious particles, showing that post-entry steps in the viral life cycle are influenced by the circadian system. Our study suggests new approaches to understand and improve therapeutic targeting of COVID-19.

Management of latent TB infection in people living with HIV - AIDS.

Latent TB infection is one of the most important issues which has not been addressed well so far. As we all know, unless measures are taken to diagnose LTBI and treat it effectively, END TB strategy may not achieve its' goals in time. This article highlights the impact of LTBI particularly among PLHIV, WHO recommendations for the diagnosis and management of LTBI, various treatment options for the management of LTBI and research priorities to address LTBI better.

Outcomes of COVID-19 in hospitalized solid organ transplant recipients compared to a matched cohort of non-transplant patients at a national healthcare system in the United States.

Data describing outcomes of solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are variable, and the association between SOT status and mortality remains unclear. In this study, we compare clinical outcomes of SOT recipients hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 10, and September 1, 2020, to a matched cohort of non-SOT recipients at a national healthcare system in the United States (US). From a population of 43 461 hospitalized COVID-19-positive patients, we created a coarsened exact matched cohort of 4035 patients including 128 SOT recipients and 3907 weighted matched non-SOT controls. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate association between SOT status and clinical outcomes. Among the 4035 patients, median age was 60 years, 61.7% were male, 21.9% were Black/African American, and 50.8% identified as Hispanic/Latino ethnicity. Patients with a history of SOT were more likely to die within the study period when compared to matched non-SOT recipients (21.9% and 14.9%, respectively; odds ratio [OR] 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18-3.15). Moreover, SOT status was associated with increased odds of receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (OR [95% CI]: 2.34 [1.51-3.65]), developing acute kidney injury (OR [95% CI]: 2.41 [1.59-3.65]), and receiving vasopressor support during hospitalization (OR [95% CI]: 2.14 [1.31-3.48]).