Efflux-Related Carbapenem Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii Is Associated with Two-Component Regulatory Efflux Systems' Alteration and Insertion of ΔAbaR25-Type Island Fragment.

The efflux pumps, beside the class D carbapenem-hydrolysing enzymes (CHLDs), are being increasingly investigated as a mechanism of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii. This study investigates the contribution of efflux mechanism to carbapenem resistance in 61 acquired blaCHDL-genes-carrying A. baumannii clinical strains isolated in Warsaw, Poland. Studies were conducted using phenotypic (susceptibility testing to carbapenems ± efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs)) and molecular (determining expression levels of efflux operon with regulatory-gene and whole genome sequencing (WGS)) methods. EPIs reduced carbapenem resistance of 14/61 isolates. Upregulation (5-67-fold) of adeB was observed together with mutations in the sequences of AdeRS local and of BaeS global regulators in all 15 selected isolates. Long-read WGS of isolate no. AB96 revealed the presence of AbaR25 resistance island and its two disrupted elements: the first contained a duplicate ISAba1-blaOXA-23, and the second was located between adeR and adeA in the efflux operon. This insert was flanked by two copies of ISAba1, and one of them provides a strong promoter for adeABC, elevating the adeB expression levels. Our study for the first time reports the involvement of the insertion of the ΔAbaR25-type resistance island fragment with ISAba1 element upstream the efflux operon in the carbapenem resistance of A. baumannii.

New and Old Faces of Socio-Occupational Exclusion. Populations and Situations for Socio-Educational Action

Post-pandemic social and labor exclusion has been challenging for Ibero-American social education institutions and professionals. This study analyzes the populations and situations served by socio-educational institutions in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain. Emphasis was placed on the old and new characteristics of insertion based on the social, health and labor circumstances perceived by social educators. A mixed methodology was applied that consisted of applying a survey (N=109) and conducting group interviews (N=17) to better describe and understand the phenomenon. A purposive sample of professionals linked to national socio-educational programs was selected.The results show that: 1) mostly female youth and families of the lowest socioeconomic level need priority attention;2) mental health has worsened, life projects are precarious or frustrated, and family reconciliation has become unsustainable;3) new skills have emerged, such as teleworking and digital literacy, which meant the adaptation of people to their pro-grams;4) early-retired adults received little attention, although people with long-term unemployment did receive attention;5) sick, dependent or disabled people received little attention;and 6) in Spain and Colombia, migrants receive more attention, while people deprived of liberty have a minimal presence in social programs.It is concluded that community and specialized care is a priority. Promoting health education (especially mental health) and accompaniment in life projects. Likewise, social educators are agents of intersectoral coordination in projects and socio-labor itineraries.

Socio-Labor Insertion: The Role of Families from the Socio-Educational Agents' Perception. A Qualitative Study

The family environment is the place where vital projects begin, accompanying people in the transit that life itself entails. One of these transitions is labor insertion, and families play a key role in this process. This study is part of a broader research developed around Social Education and COVID-19 in Ibero-America: social and labor exclusion after the pandemic and good practices for inclusion. This is an exploratory study, with a qualitative methodology, with data collected through group interviews (focus groups), with semi-structured questions. The data analysis has been carried out through the qualitative software ATLAS.ti (v.22). The focus groups consist of professionals implied in socio-educational intervention with families, who participate in services and programs aimed at socio-labor insertion after the pandemic. These key informants come from four countries of the Ibero-American context: Brazil, Colombia, Spain and Mexico, and through the data they have provided, it is intended to know the situations of social exclusion, the populations that are most affected, as well as the proposals for intervention and insertion indicators on which they are based. Results of this research are interpreted within the framework of the two main categories that have guided the study. These categories derived from the focus groups information: a) Young people and family support during and after the pandemic;b) Gender and care (support linked to gender roles);The professionals participating in this study show agreement regarding the assessment of the proactive role of fathers, mothers and caregivers in promoting the personal and family autonomy of the members. Likewise, the intervention of socio-educational agents (entities of the 3rd sector) it is considered pertinent to guide, accompany and identify the main social and labor skills, and consequently, facilitators of social and labor insertion. Copyright © 2015 SIPS. Licencia Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (by-nc) Spain 3.0.

How to Accompany Inclusion? Elements of Protection and Good Practices in Socio-Occupational Insertion Programmes

Labour insertion is an area of socio-educational intervention that can contribute to the social inclusion of different individuals and groups. Based on a literature review on protective elements in socio-occupational integration processes, and taking into account especially the situation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in the years 2020-2022, in this study we have identified, through 109 questionnaires and 21 group interviews with socio-educational agents, which of these elements are present in integration projects currently being developed in 4 Latin American countries, and we have explored how they define 'good practices' in this area and what effective actions exist. The results, explained by country (Brazil, Spain, Colombia and Mexico), indicate that three types of protection elements are considered in the different socio-educational projects: development of personal and professional competences;support from the family and social context;and institutional elements related to socio-occupational intermediation and social support interventions. In relation to good practices, the technical agents working in insertion projects associate this term with methodological characteristics of their intervention (accompaniment, empathy, personalisation) and/or with the achievement of results (quality of life, empowerment, employability). They identify new challenges that have arisen during the pandemic, such as digital literacy or mental health, and illustrate with some examples of successful practices they are developing. The article ends with a mention of the socio-educational approach in socio-labour insertion programmes and the presentation of two proposals for further study. © 2023 Sociedad Iberoamericana de Pedagogía Social. All rights reserved.

Mutation-driven parallel evolution in emergence of ACE2-utilizing sarbecoviruses.

Mutation and recombination are two major genetic mechanisms that drive the evolution of viruses. They both exert an interplay during virus evolution, in which mutations provide a first ancestral source of genetic diversity for subsequent recombination. Sarbecoviruses are a group of evolutionarily related ß-coronaviruses including human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and SARS-CoV-2 and a trove of related animal viruses called SARS-like CoVs (SL-CoVs). This group of members either use or not use angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as their entry receptor, which has been linked to the properties of their spike protein receptor binding domains (RBDs). This raises an outstanding question regarding how ACE2 binding originated within sarbecoviruses. Using a combination of analyses of phylogenies, ancestral sequences, structures, functions and molecular dynamics, we provide evidence in favor of an evolutionary scenario, in which three distinct ancestral RBDs independently developed the ACE2 binding trait via parallel amino acid mutations. In this process, evolutionary intermediate RBDs might be firstly formed through loop extensions to offer key functional residues accompanying point mutations to remove energetically unfavorable interactions and to change the dynamics of the functional loops, all required for ACE2 binding. Subsequent optimization in the context of evolutionary intermediates led to the independent emergence of ACE2-binding RBDs in the SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 clades of Asian origin and the clade comprising SL-CoVs of European and African descent. These findings will help enhance our understanding of mutation-driven evolution of sarbecoviruses in their early history.

Comprehensive classification of proteins based on structures that engage lipids by COMPOSEL.

Structures can now be predicted for any protein using programs like AlphaFold and Rosetta, which rely on a foundation of experimentally determined structures of architecturally diverse proteins. The accuracy of such artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) approaches benefits from the specification of restraints which assist in navigating the universe of folds to converge on models most representative of a given protein's physiological structure. This is especially pertinent for membrane proteins, with structures and functions that depend on their presence in lipid bilayers. Structures of proteins in their membrane environments could conceivably be predicted from AI/ML approaches with user-specificized parameters that describe each element of the architecture of a membrane protein accompanied by its lipid environment. We propose the Classification Of Membrane Proteins based On Structures Engaging Lipids (COMPOSEL), which builds on existing nomenclature types for monotopic, bitopic, polytopic and peripheral membrane proteins as well as lipids. Functional and regulatory elements are also defined in the scripts, as shown with membrane fusing synaptotagmins, multidomain PDZD8 and Protrudin proteins that recognize phosphoinositide (PI) lipids, the intrinsically disordered MARCKS protein, caveolins, the ß barrel assembly machine (BAM), an adhesion G-protein coupled receptor (aGPCR) and two lipid modifying enzymes - diacylglycerol kinase DGKε and fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase FALDH. This demonstrates how COMPOSEL communicates lipid interactivity as well as signaling mechanisms and binding of metabolites, drug molecules, polypeptides or nucleic acids to describe the operations of any protein. Moreover COMPOSEL can be scaled to express how genomes encode membrane structures and how our organs are infiltrated by pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.

Insertion and deletion mutations preserved in SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The insertion/deletion (indel) mutation profiles of SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron, remain unclear. We compared whole-genome sequences from various lineages and used preserved indels to infer the ancestral relationships between different lineages. Thirteen indel patterns from twelve sites were seen in ≥ 2 sequences; six of these sites were located in the N-terminal domain of the viral spike gene. Preserved indels in the coding regions were also identified in the non-structural protein 3 (Nsp3), Nsp6, and nucleocapsid genes. Seven of the thirteen indel patterns were specific to the Omicron variants, four of which were observed in BA.1, making it the most mutated variant. Other preserved indels observed in the Omicron variants were also seen in Alpha and/or Gamma, but not Delta, suggesting that Omicron is phylogenetically more proximal to Alpha. We demonstrated distinct profiles of preserved indels among SARS-CoV-2 variants and sublineages, suggesting the importance of indels in viral evolution.

Life cycle assessment teaching innovation: experiences from a Brazilian higher education institution

Purpose>The inclusion of sustainability in higher education courses has been debated in recent decades and has gained particular emphasis throughout the COVID-19. This paper aims to show how the context of the pandemic, which demanded the transition from in-person classes to virtual classes, was used to illustrate better the concepts of life cycle assessment (LCA) for Production Engineering students in a Brazilian University.Design/methodology/approach>The research strategy used was action research. Throughout the discipline offering, the environmental impacts resulting from in-person and remote classes were comparatively assessed through a practical activity using LCA. Students' behaviour and perception of the activities were recorded by the professor and discussed with the other researchers on the team. At the end of the course, students answered a questionnaire to assess their satisfaction with different aspects of the discipline, and these data were analysed via Fuzzy Delphi.Findings>The results focus on discussing the pedagogical aspects of this experience and not the environmental impacts resulting from each class modality. It was possible to notice a greater engagement of students when using a project that directly involved their daily activities (food, transportation, use of electronics, etc.) compared to the traditional approach of teaching LCA concepts. In this traditional approach, the examples focussed on the industrial sector, a more distant context from the reality of most students. Student feedback demonstrated great acceptance by them regarding the approach adopted.Originality/value>This study contributes to expanding debates about sustainability insertion in higher education and the training of professionals more aligned with the sustainable development agenda.

Anomalous Marginal Insertion of Umbilical Cord in Placentas of COVID-19-Affected Pregnant Mothers: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aim Study the effect of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), on the placenta and in turn study its effects on pregnancy and newborn outcomes. Methods In this cross-sectional study, which was conducted in the term pregnant women who underwent delivery, their placentas were collected after delivery along with the mothers' blood and cord blood. Results Among the 212 pregnant women recruited, the prevalence of marginal cord insertion (MCI) in the placentas after delivery, was found to be 23% (n=48). Among these 48 cases (n=48) with MCI, 58.33% (n=28) were COVID-19 positive. The placentas with MCI had significantly lower minimum placental circumference (probability value/p value=0.04) and significantly longer umbilical cord (p-value=0.05). COVID-19 antibodies transfer from the mother to the umbilical cord (C/M antibodies ratio) was observed to be lower, albeit insignificantly. Both the weight of newborns (p value=0.03) and their COVID-19 antibodies levels (p-value=0.05) were observed to be significantly lower in the MCI group. Univariate analysis shows that a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 23 of the mothers was significantly associated with abnormal MCI. Conclusion The prevalence of MCI was observed to be high in COVID-19-affected mothers in our study. MCI was associated with lower placental size, newborn weight, lesser transfer of COVID-19 antibodies from the mother to the fetus across the umbilical cord, and lower antibody levels in the cord blood when compared to maternal blood.

An Optical Guidance Method for Robotic Intramuscular Injection System

Intramuscular (IM) injection is mainly performed manually at present. Large-scale COVID-19 vaccination has exposed various problems of manual IM injection. In addition, the clinical success rate of manual IM injection is also unsatisfactory. Using robotic intramuscular injection system (RIMIS) is expected to realize automated vaccination and improve the success rate of IM injection. The existing robotic needle insertion system based on image guidance is not a practical option for IM injection because of the time-consuming medical imaging process. In this paper, an optical guidance method for RIMIS is proposed, which uses near-infrared optical tracking system and retro-reflective patch to achieve rapid acquisition of surface normal vector. A closed loop formed by six coordinate systems is used to realize the accurate control of the injection angle and depth. Experimental results show that the RIMIS based on the proposed method can complete the simulated IM injection operation without image guidance and possess accurate control of the injection angle and depth. © 2022 IEEE.

The Biological Causes and Consequences of COVID-19: ACE I/D Polymorphism and In-Silico Screening of Potential Bioactive Phytochemicals Against COVID-19.

The "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome" (SARS), which has relation to the coronavirus-2 considered to be a major cause of the disease addressed by COVID-19. COVID-19 requires the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), which is considered to be the target receptor of the host cells. The intention of this practical research study was to observe ACE I/D polymorphism association with COVID-19 and also the in-silico screening of potential phytochemicals against COVID-19. This study incorporated total of 320 blood samples; of which 160 were collected from COVID-19 patients and 160 were collected from healthy controls. DNA extraction was conducted from whole genomic blood and afterward, the banding patterns of ACE polymorphism were identified by the application of a nested polymerase chain reaction. A significant discrepancy was recorded in the frequency of insertion/deletion (ID) and homozygous deletion (DD) between controls and patients. The frequency reported for ID was just 10% and that of DD (genetic constitution) was 90%. Predictably, a 100% DD genetic constitution was shown by all the controls. The inference of this study was that the DD genotype has a greater prevalence in COVID-19 as compared to II and ID. In-silico screening of potential phytochemicals against COVID-19 is very effective in its concentrated form showing no or fewer side effects and can be used as a drug against COVID-19 spike protein blockage to inhibit the interaction between ACE-2 receptors. The highest affinity and lowest binding energy were observed by Dictaminine.

Comparative sequence analysis of SARS nCoV and SARS CoV genomes for variation in structural proteins

SARS-nCoV was identified as corona virus had spread worldwide very quickly and affected more than million people worldwide. To halt this acceleration and for efficient control the knowledge on genomic information is of utmost importance. We attempted to determine the nature of variation i.e., insertion, deletion, substitution, among structural sequences required to code for membrane, spike, nucleocapsid, envelope protein and glycosylation variation between SARS CoV and SARS nCoV spike glycoproteins, respectively. Comparative sequence analysis was performed by using retrieved sequences from the NCBI database. The analyzed sequences revealed, that the sequences coding for envelope protein show minor substituting amino acids. SARS CoV showed 94.74 percent amino acid identities with SARS nCoV amino acid sequences coding for envelope protein. In comparison to SARS nCoV, distinct amino acid residues vary in SARS CoV sequences coding for membrane, nucleocapsid, and spike proteins, respectively. S protein coding sequences of SARS CoV exhibited one deletion, six insertion and six hundred three substitutions in SARS nCoV sequence. Insertion of valine was found in receptor binding domain of SARS nCoV at position 487, and NSPR amino acid residues at position 683-686. Deletions and substitutions were also found in nucleotide sequences of strain B.1.617.2 of SARS nCoV. Additionally, binding interaction pattern of ACE2 receptor protein with original wild-type SARS-CoV-2 strain with the recently evolved Omicron variant was also evaluated. The docking results substantiated that the specific variation in binding residues is likely to impact virulence pattern of both variants.

The role of angiotensin I converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism in the severity and outcomes of COVID-19 patients.

The pandemic of coronavirus disease in 2019 has led to a global crisis. COVID-19 shows distinct clinical manifestations of the severity of symptoms. Numerous patients with no associated risk factors demonstrate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The role of genetic factors in determining the severity and outcome of the disease remains unresolved. The purpose of this study was to see if a correlation exists between Angiotensin I Converting Enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the severity of COVID-19 patients' symptoms. 120 COVID-19 patients admitted to Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran with their consent to participate entered the study. Based on the World Health Organization classification, patients were divided into moderate and severe groups, which were primarily affected by O2 saturation levels. The effects of the patients' ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism, background disease, Angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) drug consumption, and demographic parameters on the severity risk were calculated statistically. The ACE D allele was associated with an increased risk of disease severity (OR = 6.766, p = 0.012), but had no effect on mortality.

Optimization of Needle Plane Measurement for Dorsal Hand Injection Based on Linear Structured Light Scanning

Medical professionals have started favoring the use of non-contact intravenous injection robots owing to their importance during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, there are currently few studies considering the robot's needle insertion angle, and most of the needle insertion operations are performed at a steep angle. This increases the rate of puncture failure, and sometimes causes significant pain in patients depending on their individual differences. Therefore, the intravenous injection of the dorsal hand is performed in this study to investigate the determination of the robot's needle insertion angle. with a focus on the optimization of the measurement data to ensure accuracy in the calculation of the needle insertion angle. First, the space point cloud of the needle insertion area on the dorsal hand is obtained by combining a monocular camera with the linear structured light scanning method , and the dorsal hand plane is obtained via fitting dorsal hand point clouds using the least squares method. During the calibration process for the linear structured light system , the measurement error is eliminated by formulating an error function and using the optimization method to iteratively solve it. Subsequently. the needle insertion angle is determined based on the obtained needle insertion area plane. Finally, experiments are conducted for the accuracy verification of the proposed method. Based on the experimental results, the average error in the optimized structured light plane position is approximately 0. 1 mm, and this serves as a foundation for subsequent automatic injection studies.

Minimum Insertion Income (Rmi) Versus Social Insertion Income (Rsi): Spain and Portugal

This research is based on the conviction that poverty and social exclusion are closely related. The current context of crisis resulting from the global pandemic caused by Covid-19, neoliberal policies and the lack of employment are generating large pockets of social exclusion, which has led to a debate on the need to implement more solid social protection measures and to reinforce existing ones. This study analyzes in a comparative manner the effectiveness of the Minimum Insertion Income (RMI) in Spain and the Social Insertion Income (RSI) in Portugal in the face of the phenomenon of poverty. The study opted for a qualitative methodology, choosing discourse analysis to analyze the empirical material obtained through the 26 semi-structured interviews and the 3 focus groups conducted. Priority was given to the information in which the subjects described their contexts, actions, values and representations. In general terms, it can be stated that users have a negative conception of both social policies, as a result of their dissatisfaction with three major common areas of conflict, the most frequently mentioned problems being: delays in the granting of benefits;the low amount offered;and the limitation of insertion mechanisms.

How to study a highly toxic protein to bacteria: A case of voltage sensor domain of mouse sperm-specific sodium/proton exchanger

Heterologous expression systems have been used as a powerful experimental strategy to study the function of many proteins, particularly ion transporters. For this experiment, it is fundamental to prepare an expression vector encoding a protein of interest. However, we encountered problems in vector preparation of the voltage sensor domain (VSD) of murine sperm-specific Na+/H+ exchanger (sNHE) due to its severe toxicity to bacteria. We overcame the problems by insertion of an amber stop codon or a synthetic intron into the coding sequence of the VSD in the expression vectors. Both methods allowed us to express the protein of interest in HEK293 cells (combined with a stop codon suppression system for amber codon). The VSD of mouse sNHE generates voltage-dependent outward ionic currents, which is a probable cause of toxicity to bacteria. We propose these two strategies as practical solutions to study the function of any protein toxic to bacteria.

Insertion/deletion hotspots in the Nsp2, Nsp3, S1, and ORF8 genes of SARS-related coronaviruses.

The genome of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) contains many insertions/deletions (indels) from the genomes of other SARS-related coronaviruses. Some of the identified indels have recently reported to involve relatively long segments of 10-300 consecutive bases and with diverse RNA sequences around gaps between virus species, both of which are different characteristics from the classical shorter in-frame indels. These non-classical complex indels have been identified in non-structural protein 3 (Nsp3), the S1 domain of the spike (S), and open reading frame 8 (ORF8). To determine whether the occurrence of these non-classical indels in specific genomic regions is ubiquitous among broad species of SARS-related coronaviruses in different animal hosts, the present study compared SARS-related coronaviruses from humans (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2), bats (RaTG13 and Rc-o319), and pangolins (GX-P4L), by performing multiple sequence alignment. As a result, indel hotspots with diverse RNA sequences of different lengths between the viruses were confirmed in the Nsp2 gene (approximately 2500-2600 base positions in the overall 29,900 bases), Nsp3 gene (approximately 3000-3300 and 3800-3900 base positions), N-terminal domain of the spike protein (21,500-22,500 base positions), and ORF8 gene (27,800-28,200 base positions). Abnormally high rate of point mutations and complex indels in these regions suggest that the occurrence of mutations in these hotspots may be selectively neutral or even benefit the survival of the viruses. The presence of such indel hotspots has not been reported in different human SARS-CoV-2 strains in the last 2 years, suggesting a lower rate of indels in human SARS-CoV-2. Future studies to elucidate the mechanisms enabling the frequent development of long and complex indels in specific genomic regions of SARS-related coronaviruses would offer deeper insights into the process of viral evolution.

Life cycle assessment teaching innovation: experiences from a Brazilian higher education institution

Purpose The inclusion of sustainability in higher education courses has been debated in recent decades and has gained particular emphasis throughout the COVID-19. This paper aims to show how the context of the pandemic, which demanded the transition from in-person classes to virtual classes, was used to illustrate better the concepts of life cycle assessment (LCA) for Production Engineering students in a Brazilian University. Design/methodology/approach The research strategy used was action research. Throughout the discipline offering, the environmental impacts resulting from in-person and remote classes were comparatively assessed through a practical activity using LCA. Students' behaviour and perception of the activities were recorded by the professor and discussed with the other researchers on the team. At the end of the course, students answered a questionnaire to assess their satisfaction with different aspects of the discipline, and these data were analysed via Fuzzy Delphi. Findings The results focus on discussing the pedagogical aspects of this experience and not the environmental impacts resulting from each class modality. It was possible to notice a greater engagement of students when using a project that directly involved their daily activities (food, transportation, use of electronics, etc.) compared to the traditional approach of teaching LCA concepts. In this traditional approach, the examples focussed on the industrial sector, a more distant context from the reality of most students. Student feedback demonstrated great acceptance by them regarding the approach adopted. Originality/value This study contributes to expanding debates about sustainability insertion in higher education and the training of professionals more aligned with the sustainable development agenda.

The role of ACE1 I/D and ACE2 polymorphism in the outcome of Iranian COVID-19 patients: A case-control study.

Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many countries have experienced a considerable number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The etiology of a broad spectrum of symptoms is still debated. Host genetic variants might also significantly influence the outcome of the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE1) gene Insertion/Deletion (I/D) polymorphism (rs1799752) and ACE2 gene rs1978124 single nucleotide polymorphism with the COVID-19 severity. Methods: This study was conducted on 470 COVID-19 patients and a control group of 56 healthy individuals across several major cities in Iran. The blood sample and clinical data were collected from the participants, and their ACE1 I/D and ACE2 rs1978124 polymorphisms were determined using polymerase chain reaction and PCR-RFLP, respectively. Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and ACE1 were measured in the blood samples. Results: We found that the ACE1 DD genotype frequency was inversely correlated with the risk of intubation (p = 0.017) and mortality in COVID-19 patients (p = 0.049). Even after adjustment, logistic regression demonstrated that this significant inverse association remained constant for the above variables at odds ratios of (OR) = 0.35 and Odds Ratio = 0.49, respectively. Also, in the expired (p = 0.042) and intubated (p = 0.048) groups with II + ID genotypes, the mean level of CRP was significantly higher than in the DD genotype group. Furthermore, in both intubated and expired groups, the mean serum level of ACE1 was higher compared with non-intubated and survived groups with II or II + ID genotypes. The results also indicated that ACE2 rs1978124 TT + CT genotypes in females have a significant positive role in susceptibility to COVID-19; however, in females, the TT + CT genotypes had a protective effect (OR = 0.098) against the severity of COVID-19. Conclusion: These findings suggest that ACE1 I/D and ACE2 rs1978124 polymorphism could potentially influence the outcome of COVID-19 in the Iranian population.

Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of a Variant Recombinant Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Strain in China.

Since 2010, a variant of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has re-emerged in several provinces of China, resulting in severe economic losses for the pork industry. Here, we isolated and identified a variant PEDV strain, SC-YB73, in Guangdong Province, China. The pathological observations of jejunum showed atrophy of villi and edema in the lamina propria. The sequence analysis of the viral genome identified a six-nucleotide insertion in the E gene, which has not previously been detected in PEDV strains. Furthermore, 50 nucleotide sites were unique in SC-YB73 compared with 27 other PEDV strains. The phylogenetic analysis based on the complete genome showed that SC-YB73 was clustered in variant subgroup GII-a, which is widely prevalent in the Chinese pig population. The recombination analysis suggested that SC-YB73 originated from the recombination of GDS47, US PEDV prototype-like strains TW/Yunlin550/2018, and COL/Cundinamarca/2014. In the present study, we isolated and genetically characterized a variant PEDV strain, thus providing essential information for the control of PED outbreaks in China.