The Representation of the First COVID-19 Case in Jordan in News Outlets: A Critical Discourse Analysis Study

During pandemics, health discourse cannot be separated from media discourse, which usually exercises its power to deliver particular ideological and political perspectives through the content it presents. This study aimed to investigate the coverage of the first case of COVID-19 in Jordan in local and nonlocal Arabic news outlets. It shed light on the potential ideologies reflected in the news headlines and articles. To achieve the objectives of the study, eight local and fourteen nonlocal news articles tackling the first case of COVID-19 in Jordan on the 2nd and 3rd of March 2020 were collected and analyzed in light of Van Dijk's critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach. The results showed that the nonlocal news headlines and articles included words with negative connotations that may create resentment and spread panic among citizens. On the other hand, in local news outlets, reassuring phrases were used by focusing on the government's procedures and distancing Jordan from the country where the virus widely spread, namely, Italy.

Green Fabrication of Freestanding Piezoceramic Films for Energy Harvesting and Virus Detection.

Most electronics such as sensors, actuators and energy harvesters need piezoceramic films to interconvert mechanical and electrical energy. Transferring the ceramic films from their growth substrates for assembling electronic devices commonly requires chemical or physical etching, which comes at the sacrifice of the substrate materials, film cracks, and environmental contamination. Here, we introduce a van der Waals stripping method to fabricate large-area and freestanding piezoceramic thin films in a simple, green, and cost-effective manner. The introduction of the quasi van der Waals epitaxial platinum layer enables the capillary force of water to drive the separation process of the film and substrate interface. The fabricated lead-free film, [Formula: see text] (BCZT), shows a high piezoelectric coefficient d33 = 209 ± 10 pm V-1 and outstanding flexibility of maximum strain 2%. The freestanding feature enables a wide application scenario, including micro energy harvesting, and covid-19 spike protein detection. We further conduct a life cycle analysis and quantify the low energy consumption and low pollution of the water-based stripping film method.

Sociological Research on Vaccine-Related Reflexes: The Case of Van

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes that have disabled routines in many respects regarding the daily form social life takes around the world. Numerous restrictions such as wearing masks, physical distancing, disinfectant use, and curfews have been put into effect to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and this has suspended the established norms of individual, societal, state, and interstate relations. Three different social reflexes and groups have emerged that can be categorized as provaccine, anti-vaccine, and hesitant with regard to vaccines' ability to end or minimize the effects of the pandemic. The aim of this study is to reveal the attitudes and perceptions toward COVID-19 vaccines regarding a sample group of 1,635 people in Van, one of the relatively least socioeconomically developed cities in Turkiye with a low elderly population and below-average rate of residents who've caught COVID-19 in Turkiye. This study focuses on determining the relationships that gender, age, marital status, education level, household size, income level, occupation, political party preference, chronic illness, and whether contracted COVID or not (if so, the severity) have with their status of being pro-vaccine, anti-vaccine, or vaccine-hesitant. The findings reveal a significant relationship to exist between vaccine attitude and the selected variables apart from gender and chronic illness, and status of having contracted COVID-19 or not.

Impact of Drug Repurposing on SARS-Cov-2 Main Protease

Abstract: The recent emergence of the severe acute respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus remains a concern posing many challenges to public health and the global economy. The resolved crystal structure of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 or SCV2 (Mpro) has led to its identification as an attractive target for designing potent antiviral drugs. Herein, we provide a comparative molecular impact of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), remdesivir, and β-D-N4-Hydroxycytidine (NHC) binding on SCV2 Mpro using various computational approaches like molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Data analyses showed that HCQ, remdesivir, and NHC binding to SARS-CoV-2 Mpro decrease the protease loop capacity to fluctuate. These binding influences the drugs' optimum orientation in the conformational space of SCV2 Mpro and produce noticeable steric effects on the interactive residues. An increased hydrogen bond formation was observed in SCV2 Mpro–NHC complex with a decreased receptor residence time during NHC binding. The binding mode of remdesivir to SCV2 Mpro differs from other drugs having van der Waals interaction as the force stabilizing protein–remdesivir complex. Electrostatic interaction dominates in the SCV2 Mpro−HCQ and SCV2 Mpro–NHC. Residue Glu166 was highly involved in the stability of remdesivir and NHC binding at the SCV2 Mpro active site, while Asp187 provides stability for HCQ binding. © 2022, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.

Exploring livestream English teaching anxiety in the Chinese context: An ecological perspective

Drawing on Bronfenbrenner's ecological system and van Lier's affordance, this study explored livestream English teaching anxiety experienced by high school teachers through interviews with 12 high school EFL teachers from China. Six types of anxiety were identified at the macro, exo, and micro levels, namely, anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic, limited technological support from school authorities, students' parents, inadequate technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK), and insufficient effective teacher-student interactions. Implications for alleviating teachers' online anxiety were proposed to enhance the teachers' livestreaming confidence and the teaching quality in the post pandemic era. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

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 8.52×10-10 and significantly enhanced GH sensitivity of 2.1530×107 μm/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. © 2023 SPIE.

Application of Hybrid Swarming Algorithm on a UAV Regional Logistics Distribution.

This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm based on the ant colony and Physarum Polycephalum algorithms. The positive feedback mechanism is used to find the globally optimal path. The crossover and mutation operations of the genetic algorithm are introduced into the path search mechanism for the first time. The Van der Waals force is applied to the pheromone updating mechanism. Simulation results show that the improved algorithm has advantages in quality and speed of solution compared with other mainstream algorithms. This paper provides fast and accurate route methods for solving the Traveling Salesman Problem first and a delivery scheme is also presented for UAVs to realize "contactless delivery" to users in the Changchun Mingzhu District during the COVID-19 epidemic, which confirms the practicability and robustness of the algorithm.

Presidential reflections: how we got here, where we might go.

Pieter van Keep was a founder and the third president of the International Menopause Society (IMS). He died, sadly, in 1991. Since then, every retiring president of the IMS has delivered the Pieter van Keep Memorial Lecture. This is an edited version of that lecture delivered at the 18th World Congress of the IMS in Lisbon, Portugal in 2022. In the article, President Steven R. Goldstein describes the path he followed that led him to the presidency of the IMS, including his original entry into transvaginal ultrasound, then gynecologic ultrasound and, ultimately, menopausal ultrasound. His was the first description of the benign nature of simple ovarian cysts, the ability of transvaginal ultrasound to exclude significant tissue in patients with postmenopausal bleeding and the significance of endometrial fluid collections in postmenopausal patients, just to name a few. However, it was his description of the unusual ultrasound appearance in the uterus of women receiving tamoxifen therapy that allowed his entry into the world of menopause. This, ultimately, led to leadership positions, and ultimately the presidency of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, the North American Menopause Society and, finally, the IMS, all chronicled in this article. In addition, the article describes in detail the activities of the IMS during the COVID pandemic.

Politicizing COVID-19 Lingua in Western and Arab Newspapers: A Critical Discourse Analysis.

COVID-19 has struck the world in an unprecedented way. Countries quickly tried to counter the rapid spread of the virus by imposing strict measures and national lockdowns. At the same time, some governments took advantage of the pandemic to besmirch their opponents. We utilize van Dijk (J Polit Ideol 11(2):115-140 2006) critical discourse analysis model to investigate how newspaper headlines reacted to COVID-19 from through ideological lenses. Results show that while the US implied that China is the origin of the virus, headlines in Arab newspapers showed that Saudi Arabia blamed travel to Iran for the early increases of COVID-19 cases.

Low-Power Negative-Differential-Resistance Device for Sensing the Selective Protein via Supporter Molecule Engineering.

Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures composed of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials have more potential than conventional metal-oxide semiconductors because of their tunable bandgaps, and sensitivities. The remarkable features of these amazing vdW heterostructures are leading to multi-functional logic devices, atomically thin photodetectors, and negative differential resistance (NDR) Esaki diodes. Here, an atomically thin vdW stacking composed of p-type black arsenic (b-As) and n-type tin disulfide (n-SnS2 ) to build a type-III (broken gap) heterojunction is introduced, leading to a negative differential resistance device. Charge transport through the NDR device is investigated under electrostatic gating to achieve a high peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR), which improved from 2.8 to 4.6 when the temperature is lowered from 300 to 100 K. At various applied-biasing voltages, all conceivable tunneling mechanisms that regulate charge transport are elucidated. Furthermore, the real-time response of the NDR device is investigated at various streptavidin concentrations down to 1 pm, operating at a low biasing voltage. Such applications of NDR devices may lead to the development of cutting-edge electrical devices operating at low power that may be employed as biosensors to detect a variety of target DNA (e.g., ct-DNA) and protein (e.g., the spike protein associated with COVID-19).

Adsorption of benzalkonium chlorides onto powdered activated carbon: mechanisms and detoxification

Because disinfectants have been essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global demand for benzalkonium chlorides (BACs) has significantly increased. BACs can inactivate coronaviruses, but are known as toxic. In this study, we investigated the adsorption mechanisms of BAC12, BAC14, and BAC16 in water using powdered activated carbon (PAC). The effects of the reaction time, pH, and temperature on the adsorption kinetics of BACs were examined. The adsorption reaction followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, and better fitted to the Langmuir isotherm than the Freundlich isotherm. The best adsorption of BACs was achieved at neutral pH conditions. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that adsorption of BACs onto PAC is a spontaneous and endothermic process. Competitive adsorption experiments revealed that BACs with longer alkyl chains were adsorbed more effectively onto PAC than shorter alkyl chain BACs, implying that, while the electrostatic interaction is an important adsorption mechanism for BAC12, van der Waals interaction plays a more important role during the adsorption of BAC14 and BAC16. Finally, we observed the partial detoxification (69%) BAC in adsorption treated water with PAC using a Microtox test. © 2022 Korean Society of Environmental Engineers.

2D materials and van der Waals heterostructures platforms for advanced sensing of COVID-19

Effective, low-cost, reliable, and versatile diagnosing of SARS-CoV-2 is a critical factor for containing the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19. 2D materials (2DMs) have recently emerged as very promising platforms for biomedical sensors since they offer high surface area and a wide range of tunable electronic, mechanical, and optical properties. In addition, 2DMs surfaces allow adjusting the interfacial phenomena, substantial property for the tailored design of the sensing mechanism, and successful device fabrication. In this chapter, achievements in the detection of COVID-19 using platforms produced from graphene, 2DMs, and their van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are summarized. The most important outcomes of the use of 2DMs in COVID-19 detection such as cost-effective, massive production, the possibility for device manufacture, the fabrication of point-of-care test kids, and their straightforward capacity to interconnect to the Internet of Things are characteristics expected to produce devices able to sense, record, monitor, and respond. These abilities, in synergy, might help to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and further pandemic outbreaks. © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Urban logistics and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has translated in different countries into a variable mix of measures that all had impacts on urban economies and logistics activities. Goods managed to maintain a high level of mobility, thus guaranteeing the supply of cities and limiting the possible effects of shortages. Urban supply chains adapted well to rapidly changing consumption behaviors (one in three consumers who made online food purchases during the first lockdowns in Europe were new to this channel) and changes in supplies to industrial sectors. In the public eye (governments, media, the general public), logistics has become an essential activity and while it has always been strategic for cities, it has become much more visible. To report on these changes, this chapter presents a review of the already quite substantial scientific literature on COVID-19 and freight, develops the case study of Paris, France, and discusses policy issues and future directions related to urban logistics and COVID-19.

A feasibility study on adoption of autonomous vans for relief distribution in rural India

In the wake of the COVID-19 global health emergency, governments in different countries of the world have restricted the movement of people and goods intra-country or even intrastate to reduce the spread of infections. Developing countries like India face an acute shortage of distribution centers for disaster management and recovery. Residents in semi-urban and rural areas in India continue to face tremendous scarcity of daily basic supplies and food grains. The safety concern stemming from the delivery options for essential goods from one point to another has been under serious concern considering the widespread of the coronavirus in India. The purpose of this study is to understand the shortcomings, needs and requirements of existing food and logistics supply in disaster scenarios by NGOs and local government and then perform a gap analysis to propose Connected Refrigerated Driverless Vans (CRDVs). The adoption of driverless car technology (DCT) is still a long-term effort, and this research aims to delve into the ways in which the proposed CRDV framework can be adopted in relief and supply distribution in rural India. © 2022 IEEE.

Bipolar Junction Transistor Exhibiting Excellent Output Characteristics with a Prompt Response against the Selective Protein

Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), the basic building blocks of integrated circuits, are deployed to control switching applications and logic operations. However, as the thickness of a conventional BJT device approaches a few atoms, its performance decreases substantially. The stacking of atomically thin 2D semiconductor materials is advantageous for manufacturing atomically thin BJT devices owing to the high carrier density of electrons and holes. Here, an atomically thin n-p-n BJT device composed of heavily doped molybdenum ditelluride (n-MoTe2) and germanium selenide (p-GeSe) sheets stacked over each other by van der Waals interactions is reported. In a common-emitter configuration, MoTe2/GeSe/MoTe2 BJT devices exhibit a considerably high current gain (beta = I-c /I-b = 29.3) at V-be = 2.5 V. The MoTe2/GeSe/MoTe2 BJT device is employed to detect streptavidin biomolecules as analytes within m. Such vdW BJT devices can trigger the development of state-of-the-art electronic devices that can be used as biosensors to detect the various kinds of target DNA and proteins like spike protein of Covid-19.

The acquisition of Afrikaans phonemes in children aged 24-72 months.

Purpose and aims of the study: The primary aim of this study was to determine and describe the ages of acquisition of the various Afrikaans phonemes according to the theoretical framework of 75% correct production by children aged 24–72 months. The phonemes studied included all Afrikaans vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs), single consonants, and consonant clusters. The sub-aim of the study was to determine if there were any differences between male and female participants for all age groups of the study regarding the ages of acquisition of phonemes. After the researcher had conducted an extensive and comprehensive literature review, it was discovered that only limited data are currently available about the acquisition of Afrikaans phonemes. Information that was available regarding the acquisition of Afrikaans phonemes, before the current study was conducted, was published over 40 years ago and did not cover phoneme acquisition between the ages of 24 and 36 months, the acquisition of vowels, or possible differences in acquisition between males and females per age group. Method: The study population consisted of 150 participants (30 participants per age group) for the age groups two to six years. All age groups had the same number of male and female participants (15 males and 15 females). Participants presented with typical development, normal hearing and typical language development, and normal anatomical structures and physiological functions of the oral and facial structures. Phoneme production of the participants was assessed using two assessment instruments, namely, the Afrikaanse Dieptetoets vir die Artikulasie van Foneme and the Afrikaanse Artikulasie Ondersoek. A self-compiled vowel repetition task was also included in the research procedures to assess the participants’ production of Afrikaans vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs). Data collection procedures were initially conducted face-to-face by the researcher, but the procedures were adapted to online data collection due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown. Results and discussion: The results of the study show that all Afrikaans vowels (monophthongs and diphthongs) were acquired by the age of two years. Although the two-year-old age group as a whole had acquired the /œ:/ monophthong, the female group had not yet acquired this monophthong by the age of two years as the production accuracy did not exceed the 75% criterion. However, there were no significant statistical differences in the acquisition of vowels, including monophthongs and diphthongs, by males and females from the age of two years up to the age of six years. Afrikaans single consonants were all acquired by the age of five years. Consonants were mainly acquired in the following sequence: plosives, the approximant, nasals, the lateral, affricates, fricatives, and lastly the trill. All Afrikaans plosive consonants, namely /p/, /t/, /k/, /b/, /d/, and /g were acquired by the age of two years. The approximant, /j/, was acquired at the age of two years. The two Afrikaans affricates, /ʧ/ and /dʒ/, were acquired by the age of three years. The four Afrikaans nasal consonants namely /m/, /n/, /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ were also acquired by three years. The Afrikaans lateral consonant, /l/, was acquired at the age of three years. All Afrikaans fricatives, /ɦ/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /ʃ/, /z/, and /x/, were acquired at the age of four years. The trill /r/ was the last consonant to be acquired in Afrikaans, namely by the age of five years. Females seem to acquire single consonants earlier than males, although not statistically significantly earlier. The p-value of Fisher’s Exact test indicated that there are no significant statistical differences in the ages of acquisition of all Afrikaans single consonants between males and females across all age groups (24–72 months). All Afrikaans consonant clusters were acquired by the age of five years. The p-value of Fisher’s Exact test found significant statistical differences in the age of acquisition of three consonant clusters, namely the /sp/, /sk/, and sl/ clusters. There was a significant statistical difference in the acquisition of the /sp/ cluster (x² = 0,035, p = 0,035) between males and females at the age of three years and for the /sk/ (x² = 0,04, p = 0,04) and /sl/ (x² = 0,01, p = 0,01) clusters by four years. No significant statistical differences were discovered for any other consonant cluster across all age groups. Conclusion: Overall, all Afrikaans phonemes are acquired by the age of five years. In general, females seem to acquire Afrikaans consonants and consonant clusters earlier than males while no statistically significant differences were noted in the production of vowels. (English) [ FROM AUTHOR] Doel: Die hoofdoel was om die ouderdom waarop Afrikaanse foneme deur kinders van die ouderdomsgroep 24–72 maande verwerf word, te beskryf volgens die teoretiese raamwerk van 75% korrekte produksie. Die subdoel was om te bepaal of ’n verskil in verwerwing tussen manlike en vroulike kinders per ouderdomsgroep gevind kon word. Metode: Die studiebevolking het uit 150 deelnemers bestaan (30 per ouderdomsgroep, 15 manlik en 15 vroulik), ouderdom 24–72 maande. Die Afrikaanse Dieptetoets vir die Artikulasie van Foneme en die Afrikaanse Artikulasie Ondersoek is gebruik om foneemproduksie te assesseer. ’n Nabootsingtaak is uitgevoer om die produksie van vokaalklanke te assesseer. Resultate: Alle vokaal- en plofklanke is teen die ouderdom van twee jaar verwerf. Die twee affrikate, vier nasale klanke en die laterale klank is teen die ouderdom van drie jaar verwerf. Alle frikatiewe is teen vier jaar verwerf terwyl die trilklank teen die ouderdom van vyf jaar verwerf is. Daar was geen beduidende verskil tussen manlike en vroulike deelnemers ten opsigte van die verwerwing van vokaalklanke nie. Vroulike deelnemers het konsonante vroeër as hulle manlike eweknieë verwerf, maar dit was nie ’n statisties beduidende verskil nie. Alle konsonantkombinasies is teen die ouderdom van vyf jaar verwerf. Daar was ’n beduidende verskil tussen manlike en vroulike deelnemers op die ouderdom van drie jaar vir die verwerwing van /sp/ (x² = 0,035, p = 0,035), asook van /sk/ (x² = 0,04, p = 0,04) en /sl/ (x² = 0,01, p = 0,01) op die ouderdom van vier jaar. Geen beduidende verskille het op enige ouderdomsvlak vir die ander konsonantkombinasies voorgekom nie. Gevolgtrekking: Teen die ouderdom van vyf jaar is al die foneme verwerf. Oor die algemeen lyk dit of vroulike deelnemers die konsonante en konsonantkombinasies van Afrikaans op ’n vroeër ouderdom as manlike deelnemers verwerf het. (Afrikaans) [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe is the property of Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap & Kuns 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.)

A Mobile Laboratory Enables Fecal Pollution Source Tracking in Catchments Using Onsite qPCR Assays

Onsite molecular diagnostics can revolutionize fecal pollution source tracking. We aimed to validate a method for onsite qPCR assays with a miniature speaker-sized Q qPCR instrument and other portable equipment items. We showed that marker genes for total bacteria (16S) and E. coli (rodA) in 100 mL of river water measured with this method agreed within ±0.3 log10 units with results obtained when using conventional laboratory equipment items. We then deployed the portable method in a mobile laboratory (‘lab in a van’) and quantified HF183 marker genes for human host associated Bacteroides in river water within 3 h of sampling. We also used the mobile laboratory to investigate urban river water and effluents from two storm drains and a retention pond and collected comprehensive microbial and physicochemical water quality data. We found significantly higher HF183 gene levels in the older storm drain compared to the river water (6.03 ± 0.04 vs. 4.23 ± 0.03 log10 gene copies per 100 mL), and a principal component analysis revealed that storm drain effluent retention in a pond beneficially altered water characteristics, making them more like those of the receiving river. In conclusion, onsite qPCR assays can be performed with portable equipment items to quickly test water.

Nature's therapy for COVID-19: Targeting the vital non-structural proteins (NSP) from SARS-CoV-2 with phytochemicals from Indian medicinal plants.

Background: Containing COVID-19 is still a global challenge. It has affected the "normal" world by targeting its economy and health sector. The effect is shifting of focus of research from life threatening diseases like cancer. Thus, we need to develop a medical solution at the earliest. The purpose of this present work was to understand the efficacy of 22 rationally screened phytochemicals from Indian medicinal plants obtained from our previous work, following drug-likeness properties, against 6 non-structural-proteins (NSP) from SARS-CoV-2. Methods: 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations were performed, and relative binding free energies were computed by MM/PBSA. Further, principal component analysis, dynamic cross correlation and hydrogen bond occupancy were analyzed to characterize protein-ligand interactions. Biological pathway enrichment analysis was also carried out to elucidate the therapeutic targets of the phytochemicals in comparison to SARS-CoV-2. Results: The potential binding modes and favourable molecular interaction profile of 9 phytochemicals, majorly from Withania somnifera with lowest free binding energies, against the SARS-CoV-2 NSP targets were identified. It was understood that phytochemicals and 2 repurposed drugs with steroidal moieties in their chemical structures formed stable interactions with the NSPs. Additionally, human target pathway analysis for SARS-CoV-2 and phytochemicals showed that cytokine mediated pathway and phosphorylation pathways were with the most significant p-value. Conclusions: To summarize this work, we suggest a global approach of targeting multiple proteins of SARS-CoV-2 with phytochemicals as a natural alternative therapy for COVID-19. We also suggest that these phytochemicals need to be tested experimentally to confirm their efficacy.

First case reported of COVID-19 infection in an adult patient with Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome.

Ellis-van Creveld syndrome (EVC) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, the features of the syndrome are: chondral and ectodermal dysplasia characterized by short ribs, polydactyly, growth retardation resulting in dwarfism, teeth and craniofacial abnormalities and heart defects (mostly endocardial cushions and atrial septal defects). We describe the first case reported of COVID-19 infection in a 24-years-old girl, diagnosed with EVC syndrome. The patient suffered only from a mild illness, she remained stable with normal saturation without need of neither respiratory support nor specific therapy and she was rapidly discharged. This case appraises the pathophysiological interplay between different specific prognostic variable in a syndromic patient with congenital heart disease and COVID-19. In patients with congenital heart disease, comorbidities related to syndromic picture may affect the clinical course of COVID-19 infection regardless of the anatomic complexity.

"What are we eating?" A theological-ethical analysis of the effects of food additives on human beings, especially in South Africa

This article discusses Christian theological-ethical questions related to the processing offood and especially to the widespread use offood additives. First, the aims, parameters and methodology of the article are discussed. Secondly, the theme of food in the Bible is briefly explored, along with its theological implications. Thirdly, the wider cultural context of food production and processing is noted, along with the commercialisation of food. Next, the nature of food additives of various kinds, the reasons for their use and their effects on human beings are analysed to determine the extent to which their use is injurious or harmless. Throughout, and especially in the final section, a theological-ethical analysis of the use of food additives, especially in a South African context, is provided.