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Background A significant challenge in using immunotherapies to treat solid tumors is that these treatments are largely ineffective due to lack of immune cell infiltration or are dominated by suppressive immune cell populations. To overcome this, we previously demonstrated that intratumoral administration of influenza converts an immune barren tumor to a tumor that is loaded with inflammatory factors, thus can be targeted by the immune system. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there being several shared characteristics between the influenza and SARS-CoV-2 we sought to determine the cancer immunotherapeutic potential of SARSCoV- 2. Here, we have shown that inactivated SARS-CoV-2 can reduce tumor growth in murine tumor models and can shift composition of the tumor microenvironment paralleling that of treatment using the influenza vaccine. Methods To determine the anticancer response, 4T1 breast cancer and B16 melanoma tumors were induced in BALB/C and C57BL/6 mice, respectively. Tumors were treated with inactivated SARS-CoV-2, seasonal influenza vaccine, or PBS via intratumoral injection. Tumor growth was evaluated via caliper measurements. Determination of immune cell population changes within the tumor following each treatment was determined via flow cytometry analysis. Results Intratumoral injection of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza vaccine showed significant reduction in tumor growth compared to a PBS control (p < 0.001) in both 4T1 and B16 tumor models. Within B16 tumors, both SARS-CoV- 2 and influenza vaccine increased CD45+ cell populations (p < 0.0001) compared to PBS. Notably, both B16 and 4T1 tumors treated with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza experienced a significant increase in CD8+ T-cell infiltration (p < 0.05, p < 0.01). Additionally, CD11b+ Ly6G/Gr-1+ myeloid derived suppressor cell populations were decreased in B16 melanoma tumors following inactivated SARS-CoV-2 or influenza vaccine treatment. Conclusions These findings indicate that introducing inactivated SARS-CoV-2 into the tumor microenvironment reduces tumor progression and is able to shift the immune profile of a tumor from an immune-suppressed to a more inflamed, immunologically targeted status. Further, the changes in immune cell populations within the tumor as well, paralleling those of influenza vaccine treated tumors.
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a reduction in human mobility which occurred randomly (in time) and is not linked to any other Dengue risk factors. This gives rise to a quasi-experimental situation to assess the impact of mobility reduction on Dengue Fever in Brazilian cities using propensity score matching. Method(s): We match weeks during the peak pandemic period for 37 cities in Sao Paulo state with comparable prior periods based on instruments for mosquito population size and human susceptibility. By matching within cities, we also control for city-level characteristics, such as landscape or population density. We compute propensity scores using logistic regression and Random Forests and implement both one-to-one and one-to-many matching with calipers. Result(s): We compare the Sample Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (SATT) across models and find variation in the direction of the causal effect. In 12 cities, mobility reductions are linked to more Dengue cases, while fewer cases are reported in 9 cities. The remaining cities are sensitive to the model chosen. Conclusion(s): The SATT of mobility on Dengue varies across the cities in our sample, with more cities experiencing an increase in cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Key messages: A quasi-experimental analysis suggests that there is a a causal effect of mobility on Dengue that varies across cities in Sao Paulo state.
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Well-defined fuller lips, associated with attractiveness/youthfulness, continue to be a desirable trait. Age-related changes to lips include roughness, lip lines and wrinkles, loss of plumpness, hydration, volume, collagen, and elastin. Invasive procedures have disadvantages: risk of complications, affordability, and recovery time, it is the noninvasive treatment methods which are popular with the masses. With new ingredients, there is an ever-expanding list of lip products being introduced to improve/enhance beauty, while remaining inexpensive and most popular fashion trend amongst cosmetics. Lip cosmetics sales took a dive during the COVID era but is expected to soar with increasing demand for additional attributes of transfer proof and long wear besides typical expectations of hydration, volume, barrier repair, and antiaging. The study objective was to evaluate product efficacy and tolerance of novel ingredients in a lip care product for smoothness (visuals) plumping (calipers), hydration (corneometer), barrier function (TEWL), biomechanical properties (cutometer), transfer resistant, long wear, and tolerance in a 12-hour clinical trial study design. It involved 45 healthy volunteers (F, 18-65 y) with visual and tactile evaluations by a trained grader, various instrumental measurements, self-perception assessments and digital photographs. Our study results showed the lip care product is significantly effective at various time points for restoring hydration, plumpness, barrier function along with being transfer resistant, long lasting, and well tolerated. This methodical clinical design involving visual grading, instruments, digital photography and subjective perception is a reliable effective tool in meeting expectations for lip care products, especially in terms of performance, transfer resistance, and long wear.
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BACKGROUND: Chlorhexidine, which is the gold-standard antimicrobial mouthwash, cannot effectively decrease the count of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the causative agent for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Since SARS-CoV-2 is susceptible to oxidation, mouthwashes containing oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2) or Povidone-iodine (PVP-I) are recommended to decrease the viral count. AIM: This study aimed to assess the effects of H2 O2 and PVP-I mouthwashes on the shear bond strength (SBS) of metal orthodontic brackets to the enamel. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This in vitro experimental study evaluated 45 freshly extracted maxillary premolars. The teeth were cleaned and randomized into three groups (n = 15) for rinsing with distilled water (control group), 1% PVP-I (betadine), and 1.5% H2 O2 for 60 s. All teeth were etched with 37% phosphoric acid gel, and metal orthodontic brackets were bonded to the teeth using the Transbond XT bonding system. The teeth were mounted in auto-polymerized acrylic resin and incubated in water at 37°C for 72 h. The teeth were then thermocycled for 48 h, and their SBS was measured in a universal testing machine. The adhesive remnant index (ARI) score was also calculated. The groups were compared by ANOVA and Chi-square Monte Carlo test. RESULTS: No significant difference was noted among the three groups in SBS (p = 0.938) or the ARI score (p = 0.780). CONCLUSION: Use of H2 O2 and PVP-I mouthwashes has no adverse effect on SBS or mode of failure of metal orthodontic brackets bonded to enamel.
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To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019 has seen unprecedented demand for medical equipment and supplies. However, the problem of waste treatment has not yet been given due attention, i.e., the traditional waste treatment process is done independently, and it is not easy to share the necessary information. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the interaction between parties is minimized to limit infections. To evaluate the current system at medical centers, we also refer to the traditional waste treatment processes of four hospitals in Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh cities (Vietnam). Almost all hospitals are handled independently, lacking any interaction between the stakeholders. In this article, we propose a decentralized blockchain-based system for automating waste treatment processes for medical equipment and supplies after usage among the relevant parties, named Medical-Waste Chain. It consists of four components: medical equipment and supplies, waste centers, recycling plants, and sorting factories. Medical-Waste Chain integrates blockchain-based Hyperledger Fabric technology with decentralized storage of medical equipment and supply information, and securely shares related data with stakeholders. We present the system design, along with the interactions among the stakeholders, to ensure the minimization of medical waste generation. We evaluate the performance of the proposed solution using system-wide timing and latency analysis based on the Hyperledger Caliper engine. Our system is developed based on the hybrid-blockchain system, so it is fully scalable for both on-chain and off-chain-based extensions. Moreover, the participants do not need to pay any fees to use and upgrade the system. To encourage future use of Medical-Waste Chain, we also share a proof-of-concept on our Github repository.
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Objective: To test the association of SARS-CoV-2 infection with increased stroke severity in individuals with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. Background: Studies have shown that patients with ischemic stroke (IS) and concurrent COVID19 have increased stroke severity. These analyses were limited by use of prepandemic era controls or by use of a sample from the early pandemic when stroke care delivery was affected by lockdown. Data on the severity of hemorrhagic stroke (HS) in patients with COVID-19 are sparse. Design/Methods: Using the National Institute of Health (NIH) National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database, we identified patients diagnosed with stroke between Mar 1, 2020 - Feb 28, 2021. Hospitalized stroke patients with concurrent COVID-19 (stroke within 3 months after or one week prior to positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR or AG lab test) were matched to all other hospitalized stroke patients in a 1:3 ratio. Nearest neighbor matching with a caliper of 0.25 was used for most clinical and demographic factors;exact matching for race/ethnicity and site. Within our matched sample, we used Poisson regression to calculate stroke severity incident rate ratio (IRR). Results: Our query identified 10394 patients hospitalized with IS with NIHSS scores upon admission (802 with concurrent COVID-19 and 9592 without) and 2138 patients hospitalized with HS with admission NIHSS scores (181 with concurrent COVID-19 and 1957 without). Average NIHSS was greater in concurrent groups with both IS and HS (11.1 vs 7.68, p<0.001 and 15.7 vs 11.7, p<0.001 respectively). Propensity matched analysis demonstrated that stroke patients with concurrent COVID-19 had increased NIHSS (IS: IRR=1.4, 95% CI:1.3-1.5, p<0.001;HS: IRR=1.3, 95% CI:1.2-1.5, p<0.001). Conclusions: This analysis suggests that the association between increased stroke severity and COVID-19 remained as stroke care utilization normalized. Further work will center on the interaction between COVID-19 illness severity and stroke severity.
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Background: Studies have shown that patients with ischemic stroke (IS) and concurrent COVID-19 have increased stroke severity. These analyses were limited by use of prepandemic era controls or by utilization of a sample from the early pandemic period when stroke care delivery was affected by lockdown. Studies on the severity of hemorrhagic stroke (HS) in patients with concurrent COVID-19 are few and limited by small sample sizes. Methods: Using the National Institute of Health (NIH) National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database, we identified patients diagnosed with stroke between Mar 1, 2020 - Feb 28, 2021. Hospitalized stroke patients with concurrent COVID-19 (stroke within 3 months after or one week prior to positive SARS-COV-2 PCR or AG lab test) were matched to all other hospitalized stroke patients in a 1:3 ratio. Nearest neighbor matching with a caliper of 0.25 was used for most clinical and demographic factors;exact matching for race/ethnicity and site. Within our matched sample, we used Poisson regression to calculate stroke severity incident rate ratio (IRR). Results: Our query identified 10,394 patients hospitalized with IS with available NIHSS scores upon admission (802 with concurrent COVID-19 and 9,592 without) and 2138 patients hospitalized with HS (181 with concurrent COVID-19 and 1957 without). Average NIHSS was greater in concurrent groups with both IS and HS (11.1 vs 7.68, p < 0.001 and 15.7 vs 11.7, p < 0.001 respectively). Propensity matched analysis also demonstrated that stroke patients with concurrent COVID-19 had increased initial NIHSS (IS: IRR = 1.4, 95% CI:1.3-1.5, p-value < 0.001;HS: IRR = 1.3, 95% CI:1.2- 1.5, p < 0.001). Average NIHSS in both IS and HS patients was greater in the Mar-Apr 2020 epoch than in all other 2 month epochs studied in these respective groups. Conclusions: This analysis suggests that the association between increased stroke severity and concurrent COVID-19 that was observed during the early pandemic was present throughout the pandemic as stroke care utilization normalized. Further work will center on the interaction between COVID-19 illness severity and stroke severity.
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After an eight year hiatus, I was asked suddenly to teach eight sections, each consisting of twelve students, of the Materials Science Lab course (306) in fall 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic. During the past eight years, my instructional materials for 306 had been adopted by other instructors who left online quizzes and online surveys unchanged, and made modest changes to my presentation slides, and lab report templates and formats. In fall 2020, faculty at my university chose their own modality of instruction - in-person, online or a hybrid mode. I chose asynchronous instead of synchronous because of issues related to the large number of lab sections, and the unpredictability of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In spring 2021, I am teaching ten sections of this lab course. I have made significant improvements to my instructional materials from the fall semester that are included in this paper. I wanted to give my students a lab experience that would be equal to or better than the traditional in-person experience prior to the pandemic. In most traditional in-person experiments, students measure physical dimensions such as thickness, width and diameter at various length scales using instruments such as an ordinary ruler, a Vernier caliper, or a micrometer. To implement similar measurements online, I decided to integrate image analysis using FijI based on ImageJ software, and use it as a video caliper tool to measure features in ordinary and high resolution images. Traditionally, 306 and courses similar to it at other universities focus almost exclusively on experimental techniques to measure properties and characterize materials. In restructuring the course, I decided to add comparable emphasis on structure and processing of materials as it relates to testing and characterization of metallic materials. This paper describes the first three of the seven experiments that were developed focusing on: (1) Introductory Image Analysis and Brinell hardness testing, (2) Strengthening mechanisms and tensile testing, and (3) Cold working and Rockwell hardness testing. In each experiment, students are instructed in theory, principles, and methods using a YouTube video of narrated slides and board work, and laboratory demonstration. They are given images and data from the experiment, and data and report templates. Students make their own measurements using FijI, perform data analysis using Excel, and submit a concise lab report with critical evaluation of results and summary conclusions. The paper includes the course schedule listing the topics for each lab, grading policy, objectives for the first lab, and supporting instructional elements including the lab report grading rubric, and sample quiz questions. It also includes the survey collected after each lab, and response statistics from the first lab. Actions taken in response to the student feedback are also included. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021
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INTRODUCTION: Computer-Aided Lung Informatics for Pathology Evaluation and Ratings (CALIPER) software has already been widely used in the evaluation of interstitial lung diseases (ILD) but has not yet been tested in patients affected by COVID-19. Our aim was to use it to describe the relationship between Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcome and the CALIPER-detected pulmonary vascular-related structures (VRS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a multicentric retrospective study enrolling 570 COVID-19 patients who performed a chest CT in emergency settings in two different institutions. Fifty-three age- and sex-matched healthy controls were also identified. Chest CTs were analyzed with CALIPER identifying the percentage of VRS over the total lung parenchyma. Patients were followed for up to 72 days recording mortality and required intensity of care. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in VRS between COVID-19-positive patients and controls (median (iqr) 4.05 (3.74) and 1.57 (0.40) respectively, p = 0.0001). VRS showed an increasing trend with the severity of care, p < 0.0001. The univariate Cox regression model showed that VRS increase is a risk factor for mortality (HR 1.17, p < 0.0001). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that VRS is an independent explanatory factor of mortality along with age (HR 1.13, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that VRS increases with the required intensity of care, and it is an independent explanatory factor for mortality. KEY POINTS: ⢠The percentage of vascular-related structure volume (VRS) in the lung is significatively increased in COVID-19 patients. ⢠VRS showed an increasing trend with the required intensity of care, test for trend p< 0.0001. ⢠Univariate and multivariate Cox models showed that VRS is a significant and independent explanatory factor of mortality.