Serum troponin, D-dimer, and CRP level in severe coronavirus (COVID-19) patients.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal inflammation coagulation biomarker levels of troponin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and D-dimer levels in serum have been demonstrated to be associated and involved in the disease progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: First: the study aimed to investigate the correlation of troponin, CRP, d-dimer, white blood cell (WBC) and polymerase chain reaction-cycle threshold (PCR-Ct) within COVID-19 survivors (143 patients; 79 males, 64 females) and in deceased (30 patients; 12 males, 18 females) group. Also, assessing any differences between both groups in studied parameters. Second: a correlation study of studied parameters' level has been conducted within families (41 patients; 23 males [seven deaths] and 18 females [eight deaths]) that lost more than one member due to the severity of the disease. Also, differences between these family and control group (132 patients; 69 males and 63 females) group in studied parameters have been assessed. RESULTS: In the first week of hospitalization, there were significant differences in D-dimer, CRP and troponin level between survived and deceased patient groups. In the second week of the admission, both groups had significant differences in the level of all studied parameters; troponin I, D-dimer, CRP, and WBCs. WBC levels positively correlated to CRP in male survivors (r = 0.75, p < 0.0001), and to troponin in deceased male patients (r = 0.74, p = 0.007). The second week of patient admission was critical in the group of families who lost more than one person, when troponin was correlated positively with D-dimer, CRP, and WBCs. CONCLUSION: Troponin, D-dimer, CRP, and WBCs level were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients who died than in COVID-19 survivors. High troponin and WBC levels, were considerably associated with families that lost more than one member, when compared with the unrelated COVID-19 patient control.

Reviewing research priorities in weed ecology, evolution and management: a horizon scan.

Weedy plants pose a major threat to food security, biodiversity, ecosystem services and consequently to human health and wellbeing. However, many currently used weed management approaches are increasingly unsustainable. To address this knowledge and practice gap, in June 2014, 35 weed and invasion ecologists, weed scientists, evolutionary biologists and social scientists convened a workshop to explore current and future perspectives and approaches in weed ecology and management. A horizon scanning exercise ranked a list of 124 pre-submitted questions to identify a priority list of 30 questions. These questions are discussed under seven themed headings that represent areas for renewed and emerging focus for the disciplines of weed research and practice. The themed areas considered the need for transdisciplinarity, increased adoption of integrated weed management and agroecological approaches, better understanding of weed evolution, climate change, weed invasiveness and finally, disciplinary challenges for weed science. Almost all the challenges identified rested on the need for continued efforts to diversify and integrate agroecological, socio-economic and technological approaches in weed management. These challenges are not newly conceived, though their continued prominence as research priorities highlights an ongoing intransigence that must be addressed through a more system-oriented and transdisciplinary research agenda that seeks an embedded integration of public and private research approaches. This horizon scanning exercise thus set out the building blocks needed for future weed management research and practice; however, the challenge ahead is to identify effective ways in which sufficient research and implementation efforts can be directed towards these needs.