Metamaterial enhanced novel plasmonic biosensor for specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

In this study, we theoretically propose a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor composed of a plasmonic gold film, double negative (DNG) metamaterial, graphene-MoS2-COOH Van der Waals heterostructures and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). We use a novel scheme of Goos-Hanchen (GH) shift to study the biosensing performances of our proposed plasmonic biosensor. The calculation results show that, both an extreme low reflectivity of 8.52x10(-10) and significantly enhanced GH sensitivity of 2.1530x10(7) mu m/RIU can be obtained, corresponding to the optimal configuration: 32 nm Au film/120 nm metamaterial/4-layer graphene/4-layer MoS2-COOH. In addition, there is a theoretically excellent linear response between the concentration of target analytes (SARS-CoV-2 and S protein) and the change in differential GH shift. Our proposed biosensor promises to be a useful tool for performing the novel coronavirus detection.

Intensive Care Consultant: Superhero or normal human being but more capable!

Submission content Introduction: Intensive care medicine has become an admired, loved, hated, and definitely more interesting Specialty due to a special situation (COVID-19) that exposed the training process to numerous criticisms, positives, and negatives, and this is how I believe we could improve our beloved world. Proposal: 1. Ideal training program from medical school to Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT): * Medical school: In their last year they should do more than 1 week in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) * Stage 1: there should be a core surgical training of at least 6 months * Stage 2: there should be a rotation on Psychiatry of at least 4 weeks with on calls in ICU and 2 weeks in Palliative Care * Stage 3: acting as a consultant for the last six months on ST7 with backup from a formal consultant, and * Surgical training should be included in the possible dual or triple CCT 2. How would we be assessed? I agree with the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) staging program assessment, with some modifications: * As ST7 the trainee should act as a consultant with back support at least 50% of the stage and need to be evaluated by a Multi-Source Feedback (MSF). * Clinical Fellows should have a consultant as a Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) guide who establishes the equivalent stage of training supporting them and assessing them under the same model. * Changing the way, the General Medical Council (GMC) conducts the CESR application and making it really equivalent to the ICM training with the FFICM curriculum. 3. What do we need to be taught? * Hot topics for ICU (academic), * Overseas talks to share experiences, * Ultrasound (FUSIC), * Wellbeing strategies, * Leadership training * Psychiatric and physiological effects post ICU for patients and staff, * The administrative and political model of the National Health Service (NHS), and * Communication skills to establish excellent relationships with the other specialties. 4. What would our working life look like? * Normal day: 8 am to 3 pm * Midday shift: 1 pm to 8:30 pm * Night shift: 8 pm to 8:30 am * A rolling rota of 12 weeks with 2 weekends during this time 5. How would you produce Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) Consultants of the future who both love their job and their life: * Starting with less intense shifts, * More cordial relationships between the teams, * Supporting ICM trainees and Fellows going through their CESR pathway, * Making the training more attractive to either male-female doctors getting them involved in as many different specialties as ICM can cover, Conclusion(s): Having full-time ICM Consultants should be welcome in all ICUs in the country, which is not at the moment. This will definitely attract a lot of excellent doctors who are 100% focused on ICM.

Re-humanisation, Recognising the person behind the patient

Submission content Introduction: At the end of a particularly hectic night shift on the intensive care unit (ICU) I found myself sitting in the relatives' room with the mother and aunt of a young patient, listening to their stories of her hopes and aspirations as she grew up. She had been diagnosed with lymphoma aged 14 and received a bone marrow transplant from her younger sister. Fighting through treatment cycles interposed with school studies, she eventually achieved remission and a portfolio of A-levels. Acceptance into university marked the start of a new era, away from her cancer label, where she studied forensic science and took up netball. Halfway through her first year she relapsed. Main body: When I met this bright, ambitious 20-year-old, none of this history was conveyed. She had been admitted to ICU overnight and rapidly intubated for type-1 respiratory failure. The notes contained a clinical list of her various diagnoses and treatments, with dates but no sense of the context. Rules regarding visitation meant her family were not allowed onto the unit, with next-of-kin updates carried out by designated non-ICU consultants to reduce pressures on ICU staff. No photos or personal items surrounded her bedside, nothing to signify a life outside of hospital. She remained in a medically-induced coma from admission onwards, while various organ systems faltered and failed in turn. Sitting in that relatives' room I had the uncomfortable realisation that I barely saw this girl as a person. Having looked after her for some weeks, I could list the positive microbiology samples and antibiotic choices, the trends in noradrenaline requirements and ventilatory settings. I had recognised the appropriate point in her clinical decline to call the family in before it was too late, without recognising anything about the person they knew and loved. She died hours later, with her mother singing 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' at her bedside. Poignant as this was, the concept of this patient as more than her unfortunate diagnosis and level of organ failure had not entered my consciousness. Perhaps a coping mechanism, but dehumanisation none-the-less. Conclusion(s): Striking a balance between emotional investment and detachment is of course vital when working in a clinical environment like the ICU, where trauma is commonplace and worst-case-scenarios have a habit of playing out. At the start of my medical career, I assumed I would need to consciously take a step back, that I would struggle to switch off from the emotional aspects of Medicine. However, forgetting the person behind the patient became all too easy during the peaks of Covid-19, where relatives were barred and communication out-sourced. While this level of detachment may be understandable and necessary to an extent, the potential for this attitude to contribute to the already dehumanising experience of ICU patients should not be ignored. I always thought I was more interested in people and their stories than I was in medical science;this experience reminded me of that, and of the richness you lose out on when those stories are forgotten.

Binge drinking alcohol and circadian misalignment in night shift nurses is associated with decreased resiliency to COVID-19 infection

Background: Nurses and other first responders are at high risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV2 virus, and many have developed severe COVID-19 infection. A better understanding of the factors that increase the risk of infection after exposure to the virus could help to address this. Although several risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension have been associated with an increased risk of infection, many first responders develop severe COVID-19 without established risk factors. As inflammation and cytokine storm are the primary mechanisms in severe COVID-19, other factors that promote an inflammatory state could increase the risk of COVID-19 in exposed individuals. Alcohol misuse and shift work with subsequent misaligned circadian rhythms are known to promote a pro-inflammatory state and thus could increase susceptibility to COVID-19. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a prospective, cross-sectional observational survey-based study in nurses using the American Nursing Association network. Method(s): We used validated structured questionnaires to assess alcohol consumption (the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and circadian typology or chronotype (the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire Shift -MCTQ-Shift). Result(s): By latent class analysis (LCA), high-risk features of alcohol misuse were associated with a later chronotype, and binge drinking was greater in night shift workers. The night shift was associated with more than double the odds of COVID-19 infection of the standard shift (OR 2.67, 95% CI: 1.18 to 6.07). Binge drinkers had twice the odds of COVID-19 infection of those with low-risk features by LCA (OR: 2.08, 95% CI: 0.75 to 5.79). Conclusion(s): Working night shifts or binge drinking may be risk factors for COVID-19 infection among nurses. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these risk factors could help to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our at-risk healthcare workforce.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Research Society on Alcohol.

Digitized Entertainment - Factors influencing Consumer Adoption of OTT Platforms

People's way of consuming media changed tremendously with rapid technological improvements and increased internet penetration levels across India due to emergence of over-the-top media services (OTT) platforms. COVID-19 outbreak has tremendously increased the demand for OTT streaming channels like Netflix, Amazon prime, Zee 5, Alt Balaji and Disney Hotstar which transformed the world of entertainment and media by contributing mind blowing services during the lockdown period.This research paper is an attempt to study the shift in media consumption patterns from old ways of entertainment like cinema, television to new ways of entertainment like OTT platforms, study and analyze the consumer preference towards choice of OTT platforms, watching habits of online over the top (OTT) applications among Indian viewers. © 2023 IEEE.

Covid-19 and the decolonisation of education in Palestinian universities

Despite the severe social, health, political and economic impacts of the outbreak of Covid-19 on Palestinians, we contend that one positive aspect of this pandemic is that it has revealed the perils and shortcomings of the teacher-centered, traditional education which colonizes students' minds, compromises their analytical abilities and, paradoxically, places them in a system of oppression which audits their ideas, limits their freedoms, and curtails their creativity. While Israeli occupation has proven to be an obstacle in the face of the Palestinian government's attempt to combat and contain the Corona crisis, on-line education, the sole arena that escapes this colonial system, has forced many instructors to give up their domination over the process of education and to create a more collaborative atmosphere of education that is based on dialogue, research and flexibility of the curriculum content. This study is designed to gauge English literature students' responses to this mode of digital learning. We interviewed a hundred students from six English literature programs between March and August, 2020. Thus, through critically examining students' answers, and by drawing on Freire's concepts of banking education, consciousness and dialogue, we propose that online education is an important step towards the decolonization of education and a call for a paradigm shift on the account that the existing paradigm of traditional education is stifling students' creativity and critical thinking.

Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy in a 6 week old

Objectives: Uncommon presentations of common diseases present a challenge in recognizing the correct diagnosis. Beside uncommon symptoms, uncommon age of onset challenges the pattern recognition abilities of clinicians. Method(s): Here we present a 6 week old boy with acute haemorrhagic edema of infancy in association with COVID-19. The otherwise healthy term born infant presented in our clinic with fever, mild respiratory symptoms and a rash. After establishing a sufficient saturation of oxygen, also during sleep, the infant was discharged. Result(s): Complete resolution of the rash was within days after. On admittance 60 mg prednisolone rectal was applied by the emergency night shift staff also to stabilize a slight wheeze due to COVID-19 but other than that no therapy was needed. Discussion(s): Reviewing the literature the benign nature of this leucocytoclastic vasculitis was commonly reported as well as the common onset during late infancy (about 8 to 23 months). Very few reports target the age group outside this age brackets. Nonetheless it is important to think outside the box when examining a patient in emergency paediatric derm.atology.

[Sleep disorders in nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Rasstroistva sna u meditsinskikh sester, rabotayushchikh v period pandemii COVID-19.

The reorganization of treatment facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the working conditions of large numbers of the health workers (HW) worldwide. The implementation of professional activities in such realities has led to an increased risk of developing a number of psychological disorders, including insomnia. The percentage of insomnia in HW has increased significantly. The nurses were the most vulnerable, because they are women and they work in an understaffed environment. The influence of shift work and stress conditions on the risk of insomnia, methods of prevention and treatment of this disorder are thoroughly examined in the article.

Post-COVID Challenges in Occupational Medicine as a Branch of Clinical and Educational Medicine

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has exhausted the employees of hospital center and had a negative impact on medical students. AIM: The aims are to show the efforts of Occupational Medicine to provide support for healthcare workers and to increase student's interest in O.M. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Out of the total number of employees of the Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, which is 3500, 275 of them claim for recognition of COVID-19 occupational diseases in 2022. The 6th-year medical students of the Rijeka Faculty of Medicine, 130 in total and 22 sanitary engineers were surveyed by the quality service regarding their satisfaction with the Occupational Medicine classes. Statsoft Statistica 10 was used to calculate the results. RESULT(S): All HCW are recognized as having COVID-19 as a professional disease. Older age correlated with greater absenteeism. Hospital employees are dissatisfied, tired, they demand work benefits, contraindications for shift work, night work, work in COVID centers, and requesting maternity leave. Many also quit their jobs the hospital management is looking for and hiring new employees, who quickly leave due to difficult working conditions and low incomes. Occupational medicine also has a problem with students. During the pandemic, classes were held online. Interest in classes declined, a small number of students joined the lectures, but all responded to the survey. The answers showed a lack of interest in the Occupational Medicine course. With subsiding of the pandemic, it would be obligatory to continue "live" classes, take students on a tour of industrial facilities, and cancel the failed evaluation of teachers. CONCLUSION(S): Easing of working conditions for HCW and changes in teaching is necessary.Copyright © 2023, Scientific Foundation SPIROSKI. All rights reserved.

Teaching Effective and Gamified Cybersecurity using the Metaverse: Challenges and Opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a tectonic shift in the way that institutions, ranging from k-12 to higher education, approach their teaching and learning strategies. It is an understatement to say that teaching effective and gamified Cybersecurity courses amidst the COVID19 pandemic placed an extreme pressure on faculty. While Zoom, WebEx, and Google Classroom virtual meeting were sufficient for some, others were in pursuit of platforms which could address the hands-on interaction component that happens in a class setting while isolating and/or removing some of the distractive and engagement-adverse ingredients that occur in traditional remote meeting platforms. To this end we present some challenges and opportunities which exist in the intersection of Cybersecurity learning and teaching through the Metaverse. As an extension we plan to measure the effectiveness of Metaverse towards Cybersecurity gamified remote learning by providing future research directions towards the ultimate goal of metamorphosing traditional Cybersecurity classrooms. © 2023 IEEE.

Risk Factors of Sleep Duration among Shift Workers

Previous studies showed that shift workers had a higher risk of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) related to the low duration of sleep. This study investigates the association of income reduction, breakfast habits, and exercise with sleep duration. The present study used a case-control design with 148 subjects. The result shows that the sleep duration of shift workers was associated with income reduction and exercise, but not with breakfast habits. This result indicates that the disruption of economic factors during the Covid-19 pandemic affect the sleep quality of shift workers. © 2023 UPM Press. All rights reserved.

Perspective of MBBS students of a government medical college on various aspects of online medical education: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying lockdown measures adversely affected institution-based education system including medical education. Internet-based online teaching emerged as the only alternative mode of continuing medical education during those times. The situation was novel to the medical institutions, the faculties, as well as the students and involved coordinated effort from all stakeholders for an efficient outcome to the ritual of compulsory online medical education. Aims and Objectives: The study was planned to obtain the perspective and point of view to various aspects of online teaching from of the MBBS students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted through a questionnaire using Google-Forms on MBBS students of Raiganj Government Medical College, Raiganj, from August 1, 2022 for a period of 1 week after obtaining necessary ethical clearance. Results: A total of 174 students responded out of 202. Majority of the respondents (81.3%) said that it was their first experience of online teaching. Most attended 2–3 h of online classes daily and did not want it to be more than that either. Somnolence during class was cited as the most common physical difficulty, while poor network connectivity was the biggest logistic problem. Live lecture was the most preferred mode of online teaching and personal email interaction with the concerned faculties was the most preferred mode for doubt clearing. Most students found online classes inferior than offline classes with respect to opportunity to interact with teachers, class ambience, ability to sustain attention, demonstration of practical skills, and peer-interaction. Conclusion: Online medical education, in spite of all its present drawbacks and demerits, can be used as a tool to provide medical education alongside offline mode after making necessary innovations and modifications by analyzing student as well as faculty feedback. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Asian Journal of Medical Sciences is the property of Manipal Colleges of Medical Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Abrupt Shift to Online Learning During the Pandemic: Focus on Teachers' Experiences and Perspectives

The study explored the perspectives and experiences of the participating teachers regarding the sudden switch to online learning during the COVID-19 epidemic. 159 teachers from four junior high schools in Taguig City, Philippines, provided the data. The study used the quantitative approach to research, specifically it utilized the descriptive method using survey as way to gather data. The data was statistically analyzed using the frequency distribution, percentage formula, mean, and Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The study's findings show that the respondents' perceptions and experiences during the sudden change to online learning, which was caused by the pandemic that focuses on internet access, digital infrastructure, administrator assistance, and learning environments, are typically similar. Additionally, there were no significant differences found between the participants' responses and their demographics as to sex, highest educational attainment, years in service and specialization. © 2023 The Author(s).

Occupational stress and its influencing factors of primary health care workers during COVID-19.

[Background] Since the outbreak of COVID-19, primary health care workers have been facing un-precedented work pressure, and their occupational stress should be taken seriously. [Objective] To analyze the occupational stress situation and its influencing factors of primary health care workers in Guangdong Province, and to propose targeted interventions. [Methods] Using a multi-stage stratified random sampling method, each prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province was classified into "good", "medium", or "poor" category based on its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019 released by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Statistics. In September 2021, four primary health care institutions were randomly selected from each stra-tum, and a total of 1 327 staff members were selected for the study. The Core Occupational Stress Scale (COSS) and a basic information questionnaire designed by the authors were used. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the means between two groups, and Kruskal-Walis H test was used to compare the means among multiple groups. The comparison of categorical data was performed by trend chi2 test or Pearson chi2 test;the analysis of factors influencing occupational stress was performed by dichotomous multiple logistic regression analysis. [Results] There were 365 health care workers reporting occupational stress in this survey, and the positive rate of occupational stress was 27.5%. The total occupational stress score in M (P25, P75) and the scores of social support, organization and reward, demand and effort, and control were 45.0 (40.0, 50.0), 20.0 (17.0, 21.0), 14.0 (12.0, 17.0), 12.0 (10.0, 15.0), and 5.0 (4.0, 6.0), re-spectively. The results of dichotomous multiple logistic regression analysis showed that high education, low income, doctor positions, long working hours in a day, and shift work were associated with the occurrence of reporting occupational stress (P < 0.05). [Conclusion] Education, average monthly income, job category, daily working hours, and shifts are factors influencing the occurrence of reporting occupational stress in primary health care workers;targeted interventions should be implemented to reduce their occupational stress levels.Copyright © 2023, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All rights reserved.

The SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13 Helicase Required for Coronavirus Replication Interacts with Structured Nucleic Acids in a Strand-Specific Manner and Catalyzes a Novel Protein-RNA Remodeling Activity Implicated in the Proofreading Mechanism of the Replication-Transc

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA virus responsible for COVID-19, requires a set of virally encoded nonstructural proteins that compose a replication-transcription complex (RTC) to replicate its 30 kilobase genome. One such nonstructural protein within the RTC is Nsp13, a highly conserved molecular motor ATPase/helicase. Upon purification of the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13 protein expressed using a eukaryotic cell-based system, we biochemically characterized the enzyme by examining its catalytic functions, nucleic acid substrate specificity, and putative protein-nucleic acid remodeling activity. We determined that Nsp13 preferentially interacts with single-stranded (ss) DNA compared to ssRNA during loading to unwind with greater efficiency a partial duplex helicase substrate. The binding affinity of Nsp13 to nucleic acid was confirmed through electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) by determining that Nsp13 binds to DNA substrates with significantly greater efficiency than RNA. These results demonstrate strand-specific interactions of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13 that dictate its ability to load and unwind structured nucleic acid substrates. We next determined that Nsp13 catalyzed unwinding of double-stranded (ds) RNA forked duplexes on substrates containing a backbone disruption (neutrally charged polyglycol linker (PGL)) was strongly inhibited when the PGL was positioned in the 5' ssRNA overhang, suggesting an unwinding mechanism in which Nsp13 is strictly sensitive to perturbation of the translocating strand sugar-phosphate backbone integrity. Furthermore, we demonstrated for the first time the ability of the coronavirus Nsp13 helicase to disrupt a high-affinity nucleic acid-protein interaction, i.e., a streptavidin tetramer bound to biotinylated RNA or DNA substrate, in a uni-directional manner and with a preferential displacement of the streptavidin complex from biotinylated ssDNA versus ssRNA. In contrast to the poorly hydrolysable ATP-gamma-S or non-hydrolysable AMP-PNP, ATP supports Nsp13-catalyzed disruption of the nucleic acidprotein complex, suggesting that nucleotide binding by Nsp13 is not sufficient for protein-RNA disruption and the chemical energy of nucleoside triphosphate hydrolysis is required to fuel remodeling of protein bound to RNA or DNA. Our results build upon structural studies of the SARS-CoV-2 RTC in which it was suggested that Nsp13 pushes the RNA polymerase (Nsp12) backward on the template RNA strand. Experimental evidence from our studies demonstrate that Nsp13 helicase efficiently remodels a large high affinity protein-RNA complex in a manner dependent on its intrinsic ATP hydrolysis function. We proposed that this novel biochemical activity of Nsp13 is relevant to its role in SARS-CoV-2 RNA processing functions and replication. It was proposed that Nsp13 facilitates proofreading during coronavirus replication when a mismatched base is inadvertently incorporated into the SARS-CoV-2 genome during replication to reposition the RTC so that the proofreading nuclease complex (Nsp14-Nsp10) can gain access and remove the nascently synthesized nucleotide to ensure polymerase fidelity. Our findings implicate a direct catalytic role of Nsp13 in protein-RNA remodeling during coronavirus genome replication beyond its duplex strand separation or structural stabilization of the RTC, yielding new insight into the proofreading mechanism. This work was supported by the Intramural Training Program, National Institute on Aging (NIA), NIH, and a Special COVID-19 Grant from the Office of the Scientific Director, NIA, NIH.Copyright © 2023 The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Basic needs of the first batch of medical staff in the fever clinic of Peking union medical college hospital during Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: A qualitative study.

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the basic needs of medical staff during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in a fever clinic, so as to provide a reference for the global epidemic medical teams. Methods A semi-structured qualitative interview outline was designed, including: (1) work level: Working hours, working intensity, and safety guarantee in a fever clinic;(2)life level: Diet, sleep, and physical comfort;(3)psychological level: Emotion, pressure, coping style, and interpersonal resources. The basic needs of the first batch of the fever clinic in Peking Union Medical College Hospital was studied by open telephone interviews. Results A total of 37 medical staff were interviewed, including 8 males (21.6%) and 29 females (78.4%). Among them, there were 16 doctors (43.2%), 19 nurses (51.4%), and 2 medical technicians (5.4%). In terms of work settings, the ideal continuous working time was 4-6 hours per shift. There should be pro re nata positions during extremely high workload, and sufficient personal protective equipment was the key to safety. In terms of living conditions, providing meals according to different shifts was important for dietary needs, and sleeping pills were temporarily needed for sleep. In terms of psychological reactions, nervousness and worrying were relatively common. Family and colleagues were important resources of support. Sport could help relieve physical and psychological stress, and psychological support from psychologists was helpful in reducing their negative emotions. Conclusions The basic needs of medical staff should be respected so as to keep the efficacy of their work. We suggest that medical staff can rest after each 4-6 h working shift. Personal protective equipment should be sufficient. Psychological support should be noted in all of them and provided when necessary.Copyright © 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.

Interaction Between the Viral RNA Leader Sequence and nsp1 in SARS Coronavirus

Nonstructural protein 1 (nsp1) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), inhibits host translation thorough cleaving host mRNA and blocking the translation initiation site on the 40S ribosome. Stem-Loop-1 (SL-1) of the viral RNA leader sequence has been identified to bind to nsp1, allowing viral RNA to escape translation repression. However, the specific residues on nsp1 and the specific sequences on SL-1 important to binding have not been experimentally verified. To investigate this binding, we used gel-shift assay and RNA pull-down to verify binding between nsp1 and SL-1. By mutating SL- 1, we seek to identify the nucleotides of SL-1 that bind to nsp1. Based on recent literature, we hypothesized that disrupting the stem region of SL-1 will decrease binding between nsp1 and SL-1. Moreover, we seek to identify the residues important to binding to SL-1 by mutating specific amino acids of nsp1. Interestingly, nsp1 is a small protein (180 amino acids) with intrinsically unstructured regions at both C- and N-terminal ends of the protein. Based on recent literature we hypothesize that disrupting the R124 and K125 residues will decrease binding to SL-1. The results of this study will increase the knowledge of how viral RNA is able to escape suppression of host gene expression. To investigate the binding of nsp1 to SL1, we used nsp1 purified from bacterial lysate using glutathione beads followed by precision protease cleavage of GST-nsp1, and biotinylated RNA. LightShift Chemiluminescence RNA EMSA Kit (Promega) was used to detect the RNA in complex with nsp1 using a gel shift assay. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found an increase in nsp1 binding to the RNA carrying stem mutation, and a decrease in nsp1 binding to the RNA with the loop mutation. Moreover, we observed two distinct bands in the stem mutant indicating two possible binding sites on SL-1. Using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, the loop region of SL-1 has been determined to be vital for binding to nsp1 in vitro. We hypothesize when the stem was mutated, we created a new binding site for nsp1. Currently we are further investigating several mutations in SL-1 to identify the actual binding site. This project was supported by the DRP award from SC INBRE (NIGMS, P20GM103499).Copyright © 2023 The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

The increasing age of respiratory syncytial virus-related hospitalisation during COVID-19 pandemic in Lyon was associated with reduced hospitalisation costs.

BACKGROUND: Preventive measures applied during the COVID-19 pandemic have modified the age distribution, the clinical severity and the incidence of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) hospitalisations during the 2020/21 RSV season. The aim of the present study was to estimate the impact of these aspects on RSV-associated hospitalisations (RSVH) costs stratified by age group between pre-COVID-19 seasons and 2020/21 RSV season. METHODS: We compared the incidence, the median costs, and total RSVH costs from the national health insurance perspective in children < 24 months of age during the COVID-19 period (2020/21 RSV season) with a pre-COVID-19 period (2014/17 RSV seasons). Children were born and hospitalised in the Lyon metropolitan area. RSVH costs were extracted from the French medical information system (Programme de Médicalisation des Systémes d'Information). RESULTS: The RSVH-incidence rate per 1000 infants aged < 3 months decreased significantly from 4.6 (95 % CI [4.1; 5.2]) to 3.1 (95 % CI [2.4; 4.0]), and increased in older infants and children up to 24 months of age during the 2020/21 RSV season. Overall, RSVH costs for RSVH cases aged below 2 years old decreased by €201,770 (31 %) during 2020/21 RSV season compared to the mean pre-COVID-19 costs. CONCLUSIONS: The sharp reduction in costs of RSVH in infants aged < 3 months outweighed the modest increase in costs observed in the 3-24 months age group. Therefore, conferring a temporal protection through passive immunisation to infants aged < 3 months should have a major impact on RSVH costs even if it results in an increase of RSVH in older children infected later in life. Nevertheless, stakeholders should be aware of this potential increase of RSVH in older age groups presenting with a wider range of disease to avoid any bias in estimating the cost-effectiveness of passive immunisation strategies.

Changing word meanings in biomedical literature reveal pandemics and new technologies.

While we often think of words as having a fixed meaning that we use to describe a changing world, words are also dynamic and changing. Scientific research can also be remarkably fast-moving, with new concepts or approaches rapidly gaining mind share. We examined scientific writing, both preprint and pre-publication peer-reviewed text, to identify terms that have changed and examine their use. One particular challenge that we faced was that the shift from closed to open access publishing meant that the size of available corpora changed by over an order of magnitude in the last two decades. We developed an approach to evaluate semantic shift by accounting for both intra- and inter-year variability using multiple integrated models. This analysis revealed thousands of change points in both corpora, including for terms such as 'cas9', 'pandemic', and 'sars'. We found that the consistent change-points between pre-publication peer-reviewed and preprinted text are largely related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also created a web app for exploration that allows users to investigate individual terms ( https://greenelab.github.io/word-lapse/ ). To our knowledge, our research is the first to examine semantic shift in biomedical preprints and pre-publication peer-reviewed text, and provides a foundation for future work to understand how terms acquire new meanings and how peer review affects this process.

The effects of shift-work schedules on the sleep, health, safety, and quality of life of police employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The negative health and safety consequences of police fatigue are increasingly recognized as a critical problem. This study's objective was to measure the effects of different shift schedules on police employee health, safety, and quality of life. Methods: A cross sectional research design surveyed employees (N = 319) from a large, U.S. west coast municipal police service during the fall of 2020. The survey was made up of a battery of validated instruments designed to assess dimensions of health and wellness (e.g., sleep, health, safety, and quality of life). Results: We found 77.4% of police employees had poor sleep quality, 25.7% had excessive daytime sleepiness, 50.2% had PTSD symptoms, 51.9% had depressive symptoms, and 40.8% had anxiety symptoms. Working night shifts significantly decreased sleep quality and increased excessive sleepiness. Furthermore, employees working night shifts were significantly more likely to report falling asleep at the wheel while driving home than employees working other shifts. Discussion: Our findings have implications for interventions designed to promote police employee sleep health, quality of life, and worker safety. We urge researchers and practitioners alike to target night shift workers, to help mitigate these risks.