A Pandemic Care Partner Summit: Online Program Helps Parkinson's Care Partners Take Positive Actions

Objective: The Parkinson's Foundation Care Partner Summit ;Cumbre Para Cuidadores was held virtually on May 16, 2020 in the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. For the first time, this event was offered without an in-person element, redesigning it's format over the course of eight weeks. Six months after the event, a survey was sent to all registrants of the program to assess the lasting impact of the program on the lives of participating care partners. Background: Respondents were asked when they watched the Summit (Live vs. recorded), what positive actions they have taken since watching (based on responses to the post-event evaluation question After attending today's summit, what are your plans to change and implement lessons learned?), and which of their loved one's PD symptoms has been most challenging for them (the care partner). Methods: 1136 participants joined live while an additional 1692 preregistered but did not attend day of. The combined 3190 registrants were sent a short survey via email in November. Results: 47 participants responded, 36 of whom watched the summit live and did not review any of the recordings. 7 participants reported watching both live and recorded content and 4 reported only watching the recorded content. An additional 9 responses were excluded because respondents reported that they did not watch the summit live or recorded or did not report when they watched the summit. 94% reported at least one positive action, 79% reported at least two, and 53% reported at least three. More than half of respondents reported talking to the PD doctor about cognition or mental health (67%), practicing more patience and compassion with their loved one (57%), and scheduling time for selfcare (53%). When asked about the most challenging symptom for the care partner, 17% reported cognitive changes, followed by Speech and Swallowing Problems at 16%. However, by grouping apathy, anxiety, and depression into mental health this becomes the third most challenging at 14%. Conclusion: While the survey response was small, we are encouraged by the impact reported by participants. Further investigation is required into the long term impact of online psychoeducational programs directed towards those caring for loved ones with Parkinson's disease, and we hope to continue to assess how these types of programs can make life better for people with Parkinson's disease and their loved ones.

Characterizing flexibility and mobility in the natural mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 spikes

We use in silico modelling of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its mutations, as deposited on the Protein Data Bank (PDB), to ascertain their dynamics, flexibility and rigidity. Identifying the precise nature of the dynamics for the spike proteins enables, in principle, the use of further in silico design methods to quickly screen for existing and novel drug molecules that might prohibit the natural protein dynamics. We employ a recent protein flexibility modeling approach, combining methods for deconstructing a protein structure into a network of rigid and flexible units with a method that explores the elastic modes of motion of this network, and a geometric modeling of flexible motion. Our results thus far indicate that the overall motion of wild-type and mutated spike protein structures remains largely the same.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Number of Adolescents/Young Adults Seeking Eating Disorder-Related Care.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the development and worsening of eating disorder (ED) symptoms in adolescents and young adults. In order to examine COVID-19-related trends in ED care-seeking at our institution. METHODS: We used interrupted time series regression to examine pre- and postpandemic monthly summary data of the following: (1) ED-related inpatient admissions for medical stabilization; (2) ED-related hospital bed-days; (3) completed outpatient ED assessments; and (4) ED outpatient care-related inquiries at a children's hospital in Boston, MA. RESULTS: Inpatient admissions, hospital bed-days, and outpatient care-related inquiries increased on average over time postpandemic compared to stable volume over time prepandemic (p < .01). Outpatient assessments decreased precipitously initially following COVID-19-related limitations, and rose quickly back to baseline. CONCLUSION: These results indicate increased need for ED-related care during the pandemic. Bolstering resources to meet the needs of these vulnerable patients is critical as the effects of the pandemic continue to be felt.

Flexibility and mobility of SARS-CoV-2-related protein structures.

The worldwide CoVid-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented push across the whole of the scientific community to develop a potent antiviral drug and vaccine as soon as possible. Existing academic, governmental and industrial institutions and companies have engaged in large-scale screening of existing drugs, in vitro, in vivo and in silico. Here, we are using in silico modelling of possible SARS-CoV-2 drug targets, as deposited on the Protein Databank (PDB), and ascertain their dynamics, flexibility and rigidity. For example, for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-using its complete homo-trimer configuration with 2905 residues-our method identifies a large-scale opening and closing of the S1 subunit through movement of the S[Formula: see text] domain. We compute the full structural information of this process, allowing for docking studies with possible drug structures. In a dedicated database, we present similarly detailed results for the further, nearly 300, thus far resolved SARS-CoV-2-related protein structures in the PDB.