REVENUE STANDARD AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A COMPARISON BETWEEN IFRS AND GAAP

International Financial Reporting Standards 15 — Revenue from Contracts with Customers (IFRS 15) was issued to inhibit the use of revenues for earnings management purposes. During COVID-19, the standard was used to manage earnings (Lopatta, Alexander, Gastone, & Tammen, 2020). This study aims to explain earnings management practices by using a revenue standard. An online questionnaire was distributed by Momentive Inc. (formerly SurveyMonkey Inc.) to accountants working in two different contexts: Jordan as an IFRS country and the USA as a Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) country. A convenience sample of 304 questionnaires from both countries was valid for analysis. The findings of ordinary least square (OLS) regression suggest that, during COVID-19, both users used the revenue standard as a tool to manage earnings. In addition, IFRS users were more conservative than GAAP users in terms of existing contracts, while both of them were the same in terms of future contracts. The results should help policymakers and regulators to rethink the flexibility given to managers in dealing with revenue contracts. In addition, they should help managers efficiently manage the revenue contracts. © 2022 The Authors.

Pharmacophore based virtual screening for natural product database revealed possible inhibitors for SARS-COV-2 main protease.

The challenge continues globally triggered by the absence of an approved antiviral drug against COVID-19 virus infection necessitating global concerted efforts of scientists. Nature still provides a renewable source for drugs used to solve many health problems. The aim of this work is to provide new candidates from natural origin to overcome COVID-19 pandemic. A virtual screening of the natural compounds database (47,645 compounds) using structure-based pharmacophore model and molecular docking simulations reported eight hits from natural origin against SARS-CoV-2 main proteinase (Mpro) enzyme. The successful candidates were of terpenoidal nature including taxusabietane, Isoadenolin A & C, Xerophilusin B, Excisanin H, Macrocalin B and ponicidin, phytoconstituents isolated from family Lamiaceae and sharing a common ent-kaurane nucleus, were found to be the most successful candidates. This study suggested that the diterpene nucleus has a clear positive contribution which can represent a new opportunity in the development of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors.

DID WE NEED THOSE ANTIBIOTICS? OUTCOMES OF PATIENTS WITH COVID-19 TREATED FOR BACTERIAL SUPERINFECTION OF THE LUNGS

TOPIC: Chest Infections TYPE: Original Investigations PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected over half a billion people worldwide. Series report that up to 75% of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 receive broad-spectrum antibiotics;however, the incidence of bacterial coinfection is consistently reported to be low. The diagnosis of bacterial superinfection of the lungs (BSL) is clinical, which presents the possibility of overdiagnosis and overutilization of antibiotics. The aim of this study was to describe the outcomes of patients who were treated for a bacterial superinfection of the lungs (BSL) compared to those who were not. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of all consecutive patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 hospitalized at our center. We defined BSL as a documented episode of pneumonia treated with antibiotics. We collected information on demographics, comorbidities, and microbiological markers. We compared patients with and without a diagnosis of BSL in terms of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, intubation, length on mechanical ventilation, length of hospital stay (LOS) and 7-day and 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Five hundred eighty-two patients had a diagnosis of COVID-19, of which 105 had BSL. Patients with BSL were older compared to those without BSL (mean age 74 vs 70 years) and more likely to be male (57% vs 47%), but they were similar in proportion of White patients (64 vs 63.6) and Charlson comorbidity index (5 vs 4). Patients with BSL had a higher likelihood of admission to the ICU (63% vs 19%) and higher intubation rates (31% vs 9%). BSL patients had longer mechanical ventilation (9 vs 3 days) and greater length of stay (13 vs 7). Only 17 BSL patients had sputum cultures, of which 10 were positive. None of the BSL patients had a positive Legionella urinary antigen or Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen, and only 6/57 (10.5%) had a positive MRSA nasal screen. Seven-day and 30-day mortality were not statistically different between BSL and non-BSL patients (p=0.18, p=0.65 respectively). Interestingly, Cox proportional hazard analysis adjusted for age, sex, race, CCI and ICU stay yielded a significantly reduced mortality at 7 and 30-day among BSL patients (HR=0.2 CI [.1-0.7], p=.0106, HR=0.5 [CI.3-0.8], p=0.0101, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BSL received more intense supportive care, and had a longer ICU stay, yet did not have a greater mortality. When adjusting for age, sex, race, CCI and ICU, there was a significant reduction in mortality. It is tempting to interpret these finding as an effect of antibiotics;however, we did not record COVID-19-specific treatments such as steroids, tocilizumab and remdesivir. It is likely that the BSL patients received more steroids, which have been associated with reduced mortality. In our population, microbiological testing was performed in a minority of patients, and it was therefore not a reliable marker of true infection. It is possible that many patients in the BSL group did not truly have a bacterial infection. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Patients with a diagnosis of BSL were sicker, but we observed no difference in unadjusted mortality. Studies on the outcomes of the BSL among COVID-19 patients should account for the effect of concurrent COVID-19 specific therapy. DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Abdelrhman Abo-zed, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Abasin Amanzai, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Ricardo Arbulu Guerra, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by NIRZARI PANDYA, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Morgan Stalder, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Rosalie Traficante, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Mohamed Yassin, source=Web Response

The Course of COVID-19 in a Patient with Aplastic Anemia and Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria Clone: A Case Report and Literature Review

Introduction: Aplastic anemia (AA) and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) are bone marrow failure syndromes. A 20-40% of patients with AA have a PNH clone at diagnosis. To date, there are little data about the course of COVID-19 in patients with AA and PNH. Case Presentation: A 36-year-old gentleman, who was previously diagnosed as a case of AA with PNH clones off immune-suppressive therapy, presented with fever and cough and was diagnosed with mild pneumonia due to COVID-19 with positive nasopharyngeal swab polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. His clinical course was benign except transient thrombocytopenia. He was asymptomatic after day 4, and viral PCR was negative on day 21. Discussion: Though studies have shown that COVID-19 is associated with lymphopenia, our patient had a normal to high lymphocyte count. The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was <1 during COVID-19, which correlates with the mild course of the disease. To know whether elevated lymphocyte count, low NLR, and benign course of COVID-19 is a standard feature for all patients with underlying AA, we need more case reports and series. The significance of this case report is that it describes the course of COVID-19 in a patient with AA and PNH clones and, up to our knowledge, is the first report showcasing the association between these rare combinations of diseases.

Sickle Cell Anemia Presenting with Vaso-Occlusive Pain: Should We Screen for COVID-19?

Despite the widespread of coronavirus disease-19 (CO-VID-19) infection around the world, there are very scarce reported literature about the care of patients with a known diagnosis of hemoglobin disorders such as sickle cell disease (SCD) or thalassemia and confirmed COVID-19 infection. Thalassemia International Federation issued a position statement to include patients with thalassemia and SCD among the high-risk groups of patients. Here, we present an interesting case of a 42-year-old patient know to have SCD presenting with Vaso-occlusive (VOC) pain episode in the absence of COVID-19 signs and symptoms, who tested positive for COVID-19 infection and had a smooth recovery. This case highlights the importance of screening SCD patients presenting with VOC-related events even in the absence of COVID-19 signs and symptoms.

Repurposing of renin inhibitors as SARS-COV-2 main protease inhibitors: A computational study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has urged for the repurposing of existing drugs for rapid management and treatment. Renin inhibitors down regulation of ACE2, which is an essential receptor for SARS-CoV-2 infection that is responsible for COVID-19, in addition to their ability to act as protease inhibitors were encouraging aspects for their investigation as possible inhibitors of main protease of SARS-CoV-2 via computational studies. A Pharmacophore model was generated using the newly released SARS-COV-2 main protease inhibitors. Virtual screening was performed on renin inhibitors, and Drug likeness filter identified remikiren and 0IU as hits. Molecular docking for both compounds showed that the orally active renin inhibitor remikiren (Ro 42-5892) of Hoffmann-La Roche exhibited good molecular interaction with Cys145 and His41 in the catalytic site of SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested that the drug is stable in the active site of the enzyme.

Can hydroxychloroquine cause G6PD-related hemolysis? A case study

During the pandemic of COVID-19, which started in December 2019, hydroxychloroquine, the drug which was first introduced as antimalarial medication, was widely used to treat this new viral infection, and it was reported in the literature as a safe drug for use in patients with G6PD deficiency;here, we report a 64-year-old male who was started on hydroxychloroquine as treatment for COVID-19 that led to hemolysis, and further investigation showed that the patient is deficient for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.