ABSTRACT
Patients previously infected with acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may experience post-acute adverse health outcomes, known as long COVID. The most reported symptoms are fatigue, headache and attention/concentration issues, dyspnea and myalgia. In addition, reduced aerobic capacity has been demonstrated in both mild and moderate COVID-19 patients. It is unknown whether COVID-19 vaccination mitigates against reduced aerobic capacity. Our aim was to compare the aerobic capacity of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Individuals aged 18 to 65 years with laboratory-confirmed mild to moderate COVID-19 disease were invited to Ziv Medical Centre, Israel, three months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. We compared individuals unvaccinated at the time of infection to those vaccinated in terms of aerobic capacity, measured using symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). Results: We recruited 28 unvaccinated and 22 vaccinated patients. There were no differences in baseline demographic and pulmonary function testing (PFT) parameters. Compared with unvaccinated individuals, those vaccinated had higher V'O2/kg at peak exercise and at the anaerobic threshold. The V'O2/kg peak in the unvaccinated group was 83% of predicted vs. 100% in the vaccinated (p < 0.002). At the anaerobic threshold (AT), vaccinated individuals had a higher V'O2/kg than those unvaccinated. Conclusions: Vaccinated individuals had significantly better exercise performance. Compared with vaccinated individuals, a higher proportion of those unvaccinated performed substantially worse than expected on CPET. These results suggest that vaccination at the time of infection is associated with better aerobic capacity following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
ABSTRACT
The present study investigated the association between oocyte zona pellucida shear modulus (ZPSM) and implantation rate (IR). Ninety-three oocytes collected from 38 in-vitro fertilization patients who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection were included in this case-control study. The ZP was modeled as an isotropic compressible hyperelastic material with parameter [Formula: see text], which represents the ZPSM. Computational methodology was used to calculate the mechanical parameters that govern ZP deformation. Fifty-one developed embryos were transferred and divided into two groups-implanted and not implanted. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the association between ZPSM and IR while controlling for confounders. Maternal age and number of embryos per transfer were significantly associated with implantation. The IR of embryos characterized by [Formula: see text] values in the range of 0.20-0.40 kPa was 66.75%, while outside this range it was 6.70%. This range was significantly associated with implantation (p < 0.001). Geometric properties were not associated with implantation. Multivariate logistic regression analysis that controlled for relevant confounders indicated that this range was independently associated with implantation (adjusted OR 38.03, 95% confidence interval 4.67-309.36, p = 0.001). The present study suggests that ZPSM may improve the classic embryo selection process with the aim of increasing IR.
