Efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of the sequela of olfactory disorders after infection with COVID-19: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

BACKGROUND: From the end of 2019 to now, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has put enormous strain on the world's health systems. As a characteristic sign of COVID-19 patient, olfactory dysfunction (OD) poses considerable problems for patients. In China, acupuncture has been widely used to treat OD caused by COVID-19, but there is still a lack of evidence-based medical evaluation. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for the treatment of COVID-19 OD. METHODS: According to the retrieval strategies, randomized controlled trials on the acupuncture for COVID-19 OD were obtained from Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the Chinese Scientific Journal Database and the Wanfang Database, regardless of publication date, or language. Studies were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the Cochrane risk bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan 5.3) and STATA 14.2 software. Ultimately, the evidentiary grade for the results will be evaluated. RESULTS: The results of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. CONCLUSION: This study will provide up-to-date summary proof for evaluating the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for COVID-19 OD.

Negative Work Attitudes and Task Performance: Mediating Role of Knowledge Hiding and Moderating Role of Servant Leadership.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global crisis that particularly hit employment globally. Due to the economic crisis, many small businesses attempted to minimise their expenses by either closing or downsizing. During such organisational situations, the employees face negative workplace attitudes that lead to knowledge hiding and affect team performance. This study examines negative attitudes and their effect on team performance. Further, this study examines the mediating effect of knowledge hiding and moderating the role of servant leadership. Through a multi-time data collection approach, the authors obtained 363 responses from the education sector in China during the COVID-19 pandemic. PROCESS Hayes model 1 and 4 were used for mediation and moderation analysis. Results show that job insecurity, cynicism, and role stress are significant forces behind knowledge-hiding behaviour. Furthermore, the knowledge hiding behaviour adversely affects task performance. Servant leadership shows a buffering effect on knowledge hiding behaviour caused by negative workplace attitudes. This is one of the first studies in the South Asian environment to examine the association between employees' negative attitudes and task performance using knowledge hiding as a mediator and servant leadership as a moderator in the COVID-19 scenario. Lastly, the paper concludes with a consideration of its theoretical, practical implication and future direction.

Baicalin Targets HSP70/90 to Regulate PKR/PI3K/AKT/eNOS Signaling Pathways.

Baicalin is a major active ingredient of traditional Chinese medicine Scutellaria baicalensis, and has been shown to have antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities. However, the protein targets of baicalin have remained unclear. Herein, a chemical proteomics strategy was developed by combining baicalin-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (BCL-N3@MNPs) and quantitative mass spectrometry to identify the target proteins of baicalin. Bioinformatics analysis with the use of Gene Ontology, STRING and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, was performed to annotate the biological functions and the associated signaling pathways of the baicalin targeting proteins. Fourteen proteins in human embryonic kidney cells were identified to interact with baicalin with various binding affinities. Bioinformatics analysis revealed these proteins are mainly ATP-binding and/or ATPase activity proteins, such as CKB, HSP86, HSP70-1, HSP90, ATPSF1ß and ACTG1, and highly associated with the regulation of the role of PKR in interferon induction and the antiviral response signaling pathway (P = 10-6), PI3K/AKT signaling pathway (P = 10-5) and eNOS signaling pathway (P = 10-4). The results show that baicalin exerts multiply pharmacological functions, such as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antioxidant functions, through regulating the PKR and PI3K/AKT/eNOS signaling pathways by targeting ATP-binding and ATPase activity proteins. These findings provide a fundamental insight into further studies on the mechanism of action of baicalin.

Genomic monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 uncovers an Nsp1 deletion variant that modulates type I interferon response.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, is undergoing constant mutation. Here, we utilized an integrative approach combining epidemiology, virus genome sequencing, clinical phenotyping, and experimental validation to locate mutations of clinical importance. We identified 35 recurrent variants, some of which are associated with clinical phenotypes related to severity. One variant, containing a deletion in the Nsp1-coding region (Δ500-532), was found in more than 20% of our sequenced samples and associates with higher RT-PCR cycle thresholds and lower serum IFN-ß levels of infected patients. Deletion variants in this locus were found in 37 countries worldwide, and viruses isolated from clinical samples or engineered by reverse genetics with related deletions in Nsp1 also induce lower IFN-ß responses in infected Calu-3 cells. Taken together, our virologic surveillance characterizes recurrent genetic diversity and identified mutations in Nsp1 of biological and clinical importance, which collectively may aid molecular diagnostics and drug design.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): current status and future perspectives.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originated in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, Central China, and has spread quickly to 72 countries to date. COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [previously provisionally known as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)]. At present, the newly identified SARS-CoV-2 has caused a large number of deaths with tens of thousands of confirmed cases worldwide, posing a serious threat to public health. However, there are no clinically approved vaccines or specific therapeutic drugs available for COVID-19. Intensive research on the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 is urgently needed to elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms and epidemiological characteristics and to identify potential drug targets, which will contribute to the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies. Hence, this review will focus on recent progress regarding the structure of SARS-CoV-2 and the characteristics of COVID-19, such as the aetiology, pathogenesis and epidemiological characteristics.