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1.
Kliniceskaa Mikrobiologia i Antimikrobnaa Himioterapia ; 24(4):295-302, 2022.
Article in Russian | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-20242710

ABSTRACT

Objective. To study risk factors, clinical and radiological features and effectiveness of the treatment of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in adult patients with COVID-19 (COVID-IA) in intensive care units (ICU). Materials and methods. A total of 60 patients with COVID-IA treated in ICU (median age 62 years, male - 58%) were included in this multicenter prospective study. The comparison group included 34 patients with COVID-IA outside the ICU (median age 62 years, male - 68%). ECMM/ISHAM 2020 criteria were used for diagnosis of CAPA, and EORTC/MSGERC 2020 criteria were used for evaluation of the treatment efficacy. A case-control study (one patient of the main group per two patients of the control group) was conducted to study risk factors for the development and features of CAPA. The control group included 120 adult COVID-19 patients without IA in the ICU, similar in demographic characteristics and background conditions. The median age of patients in the control group was 63 years, male - 67%. Results. 64% of patients with COVID-IA stayed in the ICU. Risk factors for the COVID-IA development in the ICU: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 3.538 [1.104-11.337], p = 0.02), and prolonged (> 10 days) lymphopenia (OR = 8.770 [4.177-18.415], p = 0.00001). The main location of COVID-IA in the ICU was lungs (98%). Typical clinical signs were fever (97%), cough (92%), severe respiratory failure (72%), ARDS (64%) and haemoptysis (23%). Typical CT features were areas of consolidation (97%), hydrothorax (63%), and foci of destruction (53%). The effective methods of laboratory diagnosis of COVID-IA were test for galactomannan in BAL (62%), culture (33%) and microscopy (22%) of BAL. The main causative agents of COVID-IA are A. fumigatus (61%), A. niger (26%) and A. flavus (4%). The overall 12-week survival rate of patients with COVID-IA in the ICU was 42%, negative predictive factors were severe respiratory failure (27.5% vs 81%, p = 0.003), ARDS (14% vs 69%, p = 0.001), mechanical ventilation (25% vs 60%, p = 0.01), and foci of destruction in the lung tissue on CT scan (23% vs 59%, p = 0.01). Conclusions. IA affects predominantly ICU patients with COVID-19 who have concomitant medical conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, hematological malignancies, cancer, and COPD. Risk factors for COVID-IA in ICU patients are prolonged lymphopenia and COPD. The majority of patients with COVID-IA have their lungs affected, but clinical signs of IA are non-specific (fever, cough, progressive respiratory failure). The overall 12-week survival in ICU patients with COVID-IA is low. Prognostic factors of poor outcome in adult ICU patients are severe respiratory failure, ARDS, mechanical ventilation as well as CT signs of lung tissue destruction.Copyright © 2022, Interregional Association for Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

2.
Plants and Phytomolecules for Immunomodulation: Recent Trends and Advances ; : 285-320, 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-20234376

ABSTRACT

There are numerous foods and herbal plants that boost the immune system. They stimulate the activity of cells responsible for fighting infections. In fact, over centuries, people have relied on herbs and other plants for treating medical conditions and boosting immunity. Considering the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, natural immune boosters are being sought after in the current war against this viral infection. Most likely, immune-boosting plants help human health by tackling viruses, bacteria, and abnormal cells in the form of prevention, to support and strengthen the body's natural immune system. In this chapter, we review several terrestrial species and plants from various sources including China, India, Europe, and Africa, which have long folklore use, and we provide information on the chemistry and biological activity where available. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

3.
Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology ; 30(3):E291-E302, 2023.
Article in English | Web of Science | ID: covidwho-20231676

ABSTRACT

Background: The recent emergence of fungal resistance strains has caused concern in medical settings. Medicinal plants continue to be viable sources of bioactive chemicals with therapeutic potential. These compounds can be extracted in different techniques using various solvents that give rise to a wide variety of extracted bioactive compounds that act as anti-fungal. The research aimed to evaluate the effect of fenugreek seed extracts on resistant isolates of Candida spp. isolated from sever COVID-19 patients.Methodology: The study was conducted from August 2021 to November 2022 at Al-Imam Al -Hussein Medical City and Al-Hayat Respiratory Diseases Units. Under a specialist's physician's supervision, severe COVID-19 cases were collected. The collected 455 sputum samples were examined directly and cultured on Sabouraud ' s Dextrose agar (SDA) media;growth colonies were distinguished and used Grams stain with the API system before the antifungal susceptibility test was performed in accordance with clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI 2020) by disc diffusion method to differentiate the resistance microorganism. The extraction process was conducted using the soxhlet technique (100 grams of seed powder and 800 milliliters of solvents (chloroform, methanol, and water) for eight hours. Electrical rotatory evaporators were used to evaporate the extract to get the concentrated crude extracts. FTIR and GC -MS instruments used to detection of bioactive compounds in crude fenugreek seed extracts(aqueous, methanol, and chloroform). Then, different concentrations of each extract (25, 50, 100, and 150 mg/ml) and their effect against the tested resistance study isolated were examined by well diffusion method and Minimum inhibitory concentration was measured.Results: A 455 were enrolled in this study. Patients' ages ranged from 20 to 91 years (mean 52.23, SD 15.009). This study indicated that more than half of the samples were males [(262) 57.6%] and [(193) 42.4%] were females. The FTIR and GC-MS showed the methanolic extract potent the most bioactive compounds, followed by the chloroform and water extracts. Evaluation of antimicrobial effects at 50 mg/ml, the methanolic extract showed the greatest effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 9.33 mm and a significant value of 0.01;at 100 mg/ml, the chloroform extract showed the next greatest effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 10.33 mm and a significant value of 0.005. At 150 mg/ml, the aqueous extracts showed the least effect, with a mean inhibition zone of 8.33 mm and a non-significant value of 0.024.Conclusions: Candida spp. were most frequent isolated yeast from sputum of patients with severe COVID-19. Methanol extract was the most effective anti-candida, followed by chloroform extract, and the aqueous extract was the least effective. The most effective anti-candida drug is ketoconazole.

4.
J Ambient Intell Humaniz Comput ; : 1-14, 2021 Oct 20.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-20238227

ABSTRACT

Law offenders take advantage of face masks to conceal their identities and in the present time of the COVID-19 pandemic wearing face masks is a new norm which makes it a daunting task for the investigation agencies to identify the offenders. To address the issue of detection of people wearing face masks using surveillance cameras, we propose a novel face mask vision system that is based on an improved tiny YOLO v4 object detector. The face masks detection network of the proposed vision system is developed by integrating tiny YOLO v4 with spatial pyramid pooling (SPP) module and additional YOLO detection layer and tested and validated on a self-created face masks detection dataset consisting of more than 50,000 images. The proposed tiny YOLO v4-SPP network achieved a mAP (mean average precision) value of 64.31% on the employed dataset which was 6.6% higher than tiny YOLO v4. Specifically, for detection of the presence of a small object like a face mask on the face region, the proposed tiny YOLO v4-SPP based vision system achieved an AP (average precision) of 84.42% which was 14.05% higher than the original tiny YOLO v4 thus, ensuring that the proposed network is capable of accurate detection of a mask on the face region in real-time surveillance applications where visibility of complete face area is a guideline.

5.
Folia Microbiol (Praha) ; 2023 Jun 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-20240928

ABSTRACT

Among the co-infectious agents in COVID-19 patients, Aspergillus species cause invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). IPA is difficult to diagnose and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This study is aimed at identifying Aspergillus spp. from sputum and tracheal aspirate (TA) samples of COVID-19 patients and at determining their antifungal susceptibility profiles. A total of 50 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized in their intensive care units (ICU) were included in the study. Identification of Aspergillus isolates was performed by phenotypic and molecular methods. ECMM/ISHAM consensus criteria were used for IPA case definitions. The antifungal susceptibility profiles of isolates were determined by the microdilution method. Aspergillus spp. was detected in 35 (70%) of the clinical samples. Among the Aspergillus spp., 20 (57.1%) A. fumigatus, six (17.1%) A. flavus, four (11.4%) A. niger, three (8.6%) A. terreus, and two (5.7%) A. welwitschiae were identified. In general, Aspergillus isolates were susceptible to the tested antifungal agents. In the study, nine patients were diagnosed with possible IPA, 11 patients were diagnosed with probable IPA, and 15 patients were diagnosed with Aspergillus colonization according to the used algorithms. Serum galactomannan antigen positivity was found in 11 of the patients diagnosed with IPA. Our results provide data on the incidence of IPA, identification of Aspergillus spp., and its susceptibility profiles in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Prospective studies are needed for a faster diagnosis or antifungal prophylaxis to manage the poor prognosis of IPA and reduce the risk of mortality.

6.
Infection Prevention: New Perspectives and Controversies: Second Edition ; : 341-348, 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2325823

ABSTRACT

There are several relevant pathogens in healthcare today that are easily transmissible among populations and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In order to decrease transmission, it is important to identify infected patients quickly so that infection prevention techniques can be employed. Rapid diagnostic tests assist with this as they often produce results 24-48 h faster than traditional culture and sensitivity methods. This chapter discusses the benefits and limitations of rapid diagnostic tests overall, as well as considerations for rapid diagnostics for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE), Clostridioides difficile, Candida auris, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and influenza. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

7.
Med Mycol ; 61(1)2022 Dec 29.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2326352

ABSTRACT

Aspergillus spp. isolated from non-BAL cultures of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) patients may reflect colonization rather than infection. Sera (n = 181) from 49 adult ICU CAPA patients (24 probable and 25 possible CAPA) with bronchial secretions (BS) culture positive for Aspergillus spp. were collected and tested for Aspergillus DNA detection by species-specific real-time PCR. Overall, 30/49 (61%) patients were PCR positive. BS culture/serum PCR agreement was moderate (21/30; 70%). Based on serum PCR positive patients, all CAPAs were due to A. fumigatus (80%), A. flavus (10%), and A. terreus (10%). No A. niger/A. nidulans or mixed infections were found despite positive BS cultures.


Discordant results were observed between bronchial secretion cultures and species-specific serum PCR (30%) with A. fumigatus being by far the most common etiological agent of CAPA (80%). No A. niger/A. nidulans or mixed infections were found despite positive cultures.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pulmonary Aspergillosis , Animals , Aspergillus/genetics , COVID-19/complications , Intensive Care Units , Pulmonary Aspergillosis/complications , Pulmonary Aspergillosis/diagnosis , Pulmonary Aspergillosis/microbiology , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
8.
New Review of Hypermedia & Multimedia ; 28(3-4):76-96, 2022.
Article in English | ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-2316165

ABSTRACT

In this overview paper, we consider interactive digital narratives (IDN) as a means to represent and enable understanding of complex topics both at the public level (e.g. global warming, the COVID-19 pandemic, migration, or e-mobility) and at the personal level (trauma and other mental health issues, interpersonal relationships). We discuss scholarly, artistic, and non-fiction approaches to complexity, point out limitations of traditional media to represent complex issues, and describe the foundational advantages of IDN in this regard, using the SPP model as a conceptual lens. Then, we describe the problem space of IDN for complexity, and what aspects need further work in order to more fully realise the potential of IDN to represent complex topic in education and public communication.

9.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol ; 13: 1165236, 2023.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2318685

ABSTRACT

COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) has emerged as a frequent complication in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, little is known about this life-threatening fungal superinfection in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs), including whether targeted anti-mold prophylaxis might be justified in this immunosuppressed population. We performed a multicentric observational retrospective study of all consecutive ICU-admitted COVID-19 SOTRs between August 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021. SOTRs receiving antifungal prophylaxis with nebulized amphotericin-B were compared with those without prophylaxis. CAPA was defined according the ECMM/ISHAM criteria. Sixty-four SOTRs were admitted to ICU for COVID-19 during the study period. One patient received antifungal prophylaxis with isavuconazole and was excluded from the analysis. Of the remaining 63 SOTRs, nineteen (30.2%) received anti-mold prophylaxis with nebulized amphotericin-B. Ten SOTRs who did not receive prophylaxis developed pulmonary mold infections (nine CAPA and one mucormycosis) compared with one who received nebulized amphotericin-B (22.7% vs 5.3%; risk ratio 0.23; 95%CI 0.032-1.68), but with no differences in survival. No severe adverse events related to nebulized amphotericin-B were recorded. SOTRs admitted to ICU with COVID-19 are at high risk for CAPA. However, nebulized amphotericin-B is safe and might reduce the incidence of CAPA in this high-risk population. A randomized clinical trial to confirm these findings is warranted.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Organ Transplantation , Humans , Amphotericin B/therapeutic use , Antifungal Agents/therapeutic use , Retrospective Studies
10.
Future Microbiol ; 18: 249-253, 2023 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2317968

ABSTRACT

The authors report the clinical and microbiological findings of a unique case of stromal keratitis caused by a rare microsporidium, Trachipleistophora hominis. This case of stromal keratitis was in a 49-year-old male with a history of COVID-19 infection and diabetes mellitus. Corneal scraping specimens revealed numerous microsporidia spores upon microscopic examination. PCR of the corneal button revealed the presence of T. hominis infection, which could be controlled by penetrating keratoplasty surgery. The graft was clear with no recurrence of infection until the last follow-up 6 weeks postsurgery. This is the first case of human stromal keratitis caused by this organism in a post-COVID infection, confirmed by molecular diagnosis.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Keratitis , Microsporidia , Microsporidiosis , Male , Humans , Middle Aged , Corneal Stroma/microbiology , Microsporidiosis/diagnosis , Microsporidiosis/microbiology , Microsporidiosis/surgery , Keratitis/diagnosis , Keratitis/microbiology , Keratitis/surgery , Microsporidia/genetics
11.
Arh Hig Rada Toksikol ; 73(4): 270-276, 2022 Dec 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2310408

ABSTRACT

Even though ozone has shown its potential for air disinfection in hospital environment, its more frequent use has earned attention only with the COVID-19 pandemic due to its proven antimicrobial effect and low cost of production. The aim of this study was to determine its antimicrobial efficiency against the most common bacterial species in a real-life setting, that is, in the air of one postoperative room of the General Hospital Dr Ivo Pedisic (Sisak, Croatia). Air was sampled for aiborne bacteria before and after treatment with the ozone concentration of 15.71 mg/m3 for one hour. The most dominant Gram-positive bacteria of the genera Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, and Bacillus were reduced by 33 %, 58 %, and 61 %, respectively. The genus Micrococcus proved to be the most resistant. Considering our findings, we recommend longer air treatment with higher ozone concentrations in combination with mechanical cleaning and frequent ventilation.


Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Ozone , Humans , Disinfection , Pandemics , Air Microbiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Bacteria , Hospitals
12.
Kliniceskaa Mikrobiologia i Antimikrobnaa Himioterapia ; 24(4):295-302, 2022.
Article in Russian | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-2303447

ABSTRACT

Objective. To study risk factors, clinical and radiological features and effectiveness of the treatment of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in adult patients with COVID-19 (COVID-IA) in intensive care units (ICU). Materials and methods. A total of 60 patients with COVID-IA treated in ICU (median age 62 years, male - 58%) were included in this multicenter prospective study. The comparison group included 34 patients with COVID-IA outside the ICU (median age 62 years, male - 68%). ECMM/ISHAM 2020 criteria were used for diagnosis of CAPA, and EORTC/MSGERC 2020 criteria were used for evaluation of the treatment efficacy. A case-control study (one patient of the main group per two patients of the control group) was conducted to study risk factors for the development and features of CAPA. The control group included 120 adult COVID-19 patients without IA in the ICU, similar in demographic characteristics and background conditions. The median age of patients in the control group was 63 years, male - 67%. Results. 64% of patients with COVID-IA stayed in the ICU. Risk factors for the COVID-IA development in the ICU: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 3.538 [1.104-11.337], p = 0.02), and prolonged (> 10 days) lymphopenia (OR = 8.770 [4.177-18.415], p = 0.00001). The main location of COVID-IA in the ICU was lungs (98%). Typical clinical signs were fever (97%), cough (92%), severe respiratory failure (72%), ARDS (64%) and haemoptysis (23%). Typical CT features were areas of consolidation (97%), hydrothorax (63%), and foci of destruction (53%). The effective methods of laboratory diagnosis of COVID-IA were test for galactomannan in BAL (62%), culture (33%) and microscopy (22%) of BAL. The main causative agents of COVID-IA are A. fumigatus (61%), A. niger (26%) and A. flavus (4%). The overall 12-week survival rate of patients with COVID-IA in the ICU was 42%, negative predictive factors were severe respiratory failure (27.5% vs 81%, p = 0.003), ARDS (14% vs 69%, p = 0.001), mechanical ventilation (25% vs 60%, p = 0.01), and foci of destruction in the lung tissue on CT scan (23% vs 59%, p = 0.01). Conclusions. IA affects predominantly ICU patients with COVID-19 who have concomitant medical conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, hematological malignancies, cancer, and COPD. Risk factors for COVID-IA in ICU patients are prolonged lymphopenia and COPD. The majority of patients with COVID-IA have their lungs affected, but clinical signs of IA are non-specific (fever, cough, progressive respiratory failure). The overall 12-week survival in ICU patients with COVID-IA is low. Prognostic factors of poor outcome in adult ICU patients are severe respiratory failure, ARDS, mechanical ventilation as well as CT signs of lung tissue destruction.Copyright © 2022, Interregional Association for Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

13.
2nd International Conference on Electronics and Renewable Systems, ICEARS 2023 ; : 1532-1537, 2023.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2298262

ABSTRACT

Face mask detection is the process of identifying whether a person is wearing a face mask or not in real-time through the use of computer vision and machine learning algorithms. This technology can be used in various applications, such as security systems at public transportation hubs or in hospitals, to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations during a pandemic or other infectious disease outbreaks. The technology works by analyzing images or video streams from cameras and computer vision techniques are used to detect the presence of a face mask on a person's face. The output of the system is a binary result (i.e., mask detected or not detected) or a more detailed result that provides information about the type of mask and its location on the face. © 2023 IEEE.

14.
Kliniceskaa Mikrobiologia i Antimikrobnaa Himioterapia ; 23(3):255-262, 2021.
Article in Russian | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-2297801

ABSTRACT

Mucormycosis is one of the most aggressive invasive mycoses. The mortality rate of patients with mucormycosis, depending on clinical form and background disease, varies from 30% to 100%. This article provides the first description of mucormycosis in Russia after infection caused by SARS-CoV-2, as well as a review of literature reports on mucormycosis in patients with COVID-19 (as of September 2021).Copyright © 2021, Interregional Association for Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

15.
Encyclopedia of Sensors and Biosensors: Volume 1-4, First Edition ; 1-4:316-353, 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2295116

ABSTRACT

Light is being vastly explored towards favoring the advancement of technology and the improvement of the life quality of the population. Photonic materials that can manipulate light in a nanometric scale have become very competitive for the construction of chemical and bio sensors, mainly because they can be more sensitive, specific, and of a lower cost. Considering the serious health crisis experienced worldwide due to COVID-19, the importance of research in this field has become even clearer and greater. In this article, sensing platforms based on the exciting and promising plasmonic materials is broadly addressed. The sections covered here seek not just to introduce the theoretical concepts and state-of-the-art techniques, but also highlight the achieved advances and inspire future research on this rich and promising area. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

16.
Int J Antimicrob Agents ; 62(1): 106825, 2023 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2302838

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) in patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) is an important and challenging complication, including in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Considering the poor lung penetration of most antibiotics, including intravenous colistin due to the poor pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics at the infection site, the choice of the best antibiotic regimen is still being debated. METHODS: This single-centre, observational study was conducted from March 2020 to August 2022, and included all patients hospitalized consecutively with VAP and concomitant bloodstream infection due to CRAB in the COVID-ICU. The main goal of the study was to evaluate risk factors associated with survival or death at 30 days from VAP onset. A propensity score for receiving therapy was added to the model. RESULTS: During the study period, 73 patients who developed VAP and concomitant positive blood cultures caused by CRAB were enrolled in the COVID-ICU. Of these patients, 67 (91.7%) developed septic shock, 42 (57.5%) had died at 14 days and 59 (80.8%) had died at 30 days. Overall, 54 (74%) patients were treated with a colistin-containing regimen and 19 (26%) were treated with a cefiderocol-containing regimen. Cox regression analysis showed that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and age were independently associated with 30-day mortality. Conversely, cefiderocol-containing regimens and cefiderocol + fosfomycin in combination were independently associated with 30-day survival, as confirmed by propensity score analysis. CONCLUSIONS: This real-life study in patients with bacteraemic VAP caused by CRAB provides useful suggestions for clinicians, showing a possible benefit of cefiderocol and its association with fosfomycin.


Subject(s)
Acinetobacter baumannii , Bacteremia , COVID-19 , Fosfomycin , Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated , Humans , Colistin/therapeutic use , Carbapenems/therapeutic use , Carbapenems/pharmacology , Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated/drug therapy , COVID-19/complications , Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Bacteremia/drug therapy
17.
The Book of Fungal Pathogens ; : 17-66, 2022.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2274236

ABSTRACT

Candidiasis is an opportunistic fungal infection resulting from an imbalance between the host immune system and crucial virulence factors of Candida species. The Candida spp., are one of the major constituents of the human mycobiome as well as the main cause of invasive fungal infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients. They affect the cases who consume a wide-spectrum antibiotic/steroid and those who have prolonged ICU stays and central venous catheters, transplant patients, chemotherapy/ radiotherapy, patients under invasive or noninvasive ventilation, and diabetic individuals with high-rate mortality. In recent decades, Candida species are considered the fourth cause of bloodstream infections;however, the epidemiology of candidemia has been linked to different geographical areas. On the other hand, the emergence of multidrug-resistant Candida spp. named Candia auris, as a global challenge in different countries over recent years in the world, leads to lethal as well as invasive infections with a high rate of spread among patients. At the beginning of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2), invasive yeast infections (IYFs), especially Candidiasis, are dramatically increasing in those individuals as the major groups under immunosuppressed condition. Although echinocandins and azoles are the most common antifungals used for the treatment of IYFs, the increased therapeutic failures exerted by multidrug-resistant Candida spp. such as C. auris and C. glabrata, calling for the discovery of novel antifungal agents with therapeutic approaches seems necessary. Here, we attempt to focus on the acquisition of knowledge associated with pathogenicity of Candida spp., particularly the indispensable role of virulence factors (germination, adherence, biofilm formation, phospholipase and proteinase production), genes that contribute to drug resistance and the related mechanisms, new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of Candidiasis includes combination therapies, application of biomaterials for drug delivery, antibodies, and vaccination, photodynamic therapy, probiotics, and new antifungal products to overcome Candida infections. © 2023 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

18.
Sustainability ; 15(3):1850, 2023.
Article in English | ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-2270141

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of supply chain integration (SCI), demand for halal products (DHP), halal marketing (HM), process quality improvement (PQI), food safety concerns (FSCs), and health consciousness (HC) on sustainable product performance (SPP) in the halal food industry in Malaysia. A survey was conducted with 212 respondents from Malaysian halal-certified companies, and the partial least squares (PLS-SEM) method was used for the data analysis. The findings indicate a positive and significant link between SCPI, HC, PQI, and SPP. In contrast, the findings show no significant link between HM, FSC, and SPP. DHP was found to have a negative, non-significant association with SPP. This paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings and opportunities for future research.

19.
New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia ; 2023.
Article in English | Scopus | ID: covidwho-2266841

ABSTRACT

In this overview paper, we consider interactive digital narratives (IDN) as a means to represent and enable understanding of complex topics both at the public level (e.g. global warming, the COVID-19 pandemic, migration, or e-mobility) and at the personal level (trauma and other mental health issues, interpersonal relationships). We discuss scholarly, artistic, and non-fiction approaches to complexity, point out limitations of traditional media to represent complex issues, and describe the foundational advantages of IDN in this regard, using the SPP model as a conceptual lens. Then, we describe the problem space of IDN for complexity, and what aspects need further work in order to more fully realise the potential of IDN to represent complex topic in education and public communication. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

20.
Jurnal Infektologii ; 14(2):116-127, 2022.
Article in Russian | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-2266296

ABSTRACT

We present the results of a prospective multicenter study of risk factors, etiology, clinical features, and treatment outcomes for mucormycosis in patients with COVID-19 (COVID-M) in the Russian Federation. The study included 60 adult patients with COVID-M. To analyze risk factors for COVID-M, we conducted a case-control study. The control group included 60 adult patients with COVID-19 without mucormycosis. To analyze the clinical manifestations of COVID-M, we created a control group of hematological patients with mucormycosis examined in 2011-2020. In patients with COVID-19, the risk of developing mucormycosis was significantly increased with diabetes mellitus (OR=49) and overweight (OR=4,75), as well as with the use of high (>=100 mg per day for prednisolone) doses of glucocorticosteroids (OR= 4,762), especially >=10 days (OR=25,4). The main localization of mucormycosis in patients with CO-VID-19 was the paranasal sinuses (95%) and the orbit (68%). Involvement of >=2 organs was identified in 70% of patients. The main causative agents of mucormycosis were Rhizopus arrhizus (43%) and unidentified mucormycetes (36%). 90-days overall survival of patients with mucormycosis and COVID-19 - 71%. The stay in the ICU (p=0,01), the use of mechanical ventilation (p=0,0481), the presence of CVC (p=0,049), CNS damage (p=0,016) and >= 2 organs (p=0,048) significantly worsened the prognosis of the disease. The best prognosis was in patients who received antifungal therapy (p=0,03875) and surgical treatment (p=0,046).Copyright © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.

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