bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of socio-ecological factors on COVID-19 risk: a cross-sectional study based on 178 countries/regions worldwide
Authors: Su Dai , Chen Yingchun , He Kevin , Zhang Tao , Tan Min , Zhang Yunfan , Zhang Xingyu
Published: April 2020

Background

The initial outbreak of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 in China in 2019 has been severely tested in other countries worldwide. We aimed to describe the spatial distribution of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide and assess the effects of various socio-ecological factors on COVID-19 risk.

Methods

We collected COVID-19 pandemic infection data and social-ecological data of 178 countries/regions worldwide from three database. We used spatial econometrics method to assess the global and local correlation of COVID-19 risk indicators for COVID-19. To estimate the adjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR), we modelled negative binomial regression analysis with spatial information and socio-ecological factors.

Findings

The study indicated that 37, 29 and 39 countries/regions were strongly opposite from the IR, CMR and DCI index “spatial autocorrelation hypothesis”, respectively. The IRs were significantly positively associated with GDP per capita, the use of at least basic sanitation services and social insurance program coverage, and were significantly negatively associated with the proportion of the population spending more than 25% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenses and the poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty lines. The CMR was significantly positively associated with urban populations, GDP per capita and current health expenditure, and was significantly negatively associated with the number of hospital beds, number of nurses and midwives, and poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty lines. The DCI was significantly positively associated with urban populations, population density and researchers in R&D, and was significantly negatively associated with the number of hospital beds, number of nurses and midwives and poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty lines. We also found that climatic factors were not significantly associated with COVID-19 risk.

Conclusion

Countries/regions should pay more attention to controlling population flow, improving diagnosis and treatment capacity, and improving public welfare policies.
Liver Chemistries in Patients with Severe or Non-severe COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Dong Xuan , Zeng Dan-Yi , Cai Yan-Yan , Chen Wei-Ming , Xing Qing-Qing , Ren Yan-Dan , Hong Mei-Zhu , Pan Jin-Shui
Published: April 2020

Background and Aims

Cumulating observations have indicated that patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) undergo different patterns of liver impairment. We performed a meta-analysis of published liver manifestations and described the liver damage in COVID-19.

Methods

We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane Library, medRxiv, bioRxiv, and three Chinese electronic databases through April 18, 2020, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Meta-Analyses. We analyzed pooled data on liver chemistries stratified by COVID-19 severity using a fixed or random-effects model.

Results

In the meta-analysis of 37 studies, which included a total of 6,235 patients, the pooled mean alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was 36.4 IU/L in the severe COVID-19 cases and 27.8 IU/L in the non-severe cases (95% confidence interval [CI]: − 9.4 to − 5.1, p < 0.0001). The pooled mean aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was 46.8 IU/L in the severe cases and 30.4 IU/L in the non-severe cases (95% CI: − 15.1 to − 10.4, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, regardless of disease severity, the AST level is often higher than the ALT level. Compared with the non-severe cases, the severe cases tended to have higher γ-glutamyltransferase levels but lower albumin levels.

Conclusions

In this meta-analysis, we comprehensively described three patterns of liver impairment related to COVID-19, namely hepatocellular injury, cholestasis, and hepatocellular disfunction, according to COVID-19 severity. Patients with abnormal liver test results are at higher risk of progression to severe disease. Close monitoring of liver chemistries provides an early warning against disease progression.

Lay Summary

Data on abnormal liver chemistries related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are cumulating but are potentially confusing. We performed a meta-analysis of 37 studies that included a total of 6,235 patients with COVID-19. We noted that patients with abnormal liver test results are at higher risk of progression to severe disease and close monitoring of liver chemistries provides early warning against disease progression.
Development and potential usefulness of the COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip® diagnostic assay in a pandemic context
Authors: Mertens Pascal , De Vos Nathalie , Martiny Delphine , Jassoy Christian , Mirazimi Ali , Cuypers Lize , Van Den Wijngaert Sigi , Monteil Vanessa , Melin Pierrette , Stoffels Karolien , Yin Nicolas , Mileto Davide , Delaunoy Sabrina , Magein Henri , Lagrou Katrien , Bouzet Justine , Serrano Gabriela , Wautier Magali , Leclipteux Thierry , Van Ranst Marc , Vandenberg Olivier ,   LHUB-ULB SARS-COV-2 working diagnostic group, Gulbis Béatrice , Brancart Françoise , Bry François , Cantinieaux Brigitte , Corazza Francis , Cotton Fréderic , Dresselhuis Maud , Mahadeb Bhavna , Roels Olivier , Vanderlinden Jacques
Published: April 2020

Introduction

COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip, an immunochromatographic (ICT) assay for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen on nasopharyngeal specimen, has been developed to identify positive COVID-19 patients allowing prompt clinical and quarantine decisions. In this Original Research article, we describe the conception, the analytical and clinical performances as well as the risk management of implementing the COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip in a diagnostic decision algorithm.

Materials and Methods

Development of the COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip resulted in a ready- to-use ICT assay based on a membrane technology with colloidal gold nanoparticles using monoclonal antibodies directed against the SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 highly conserved nucleoprotein antigen. Four hundred observations were recorded for the analytical performance study and thirty tests were analysed for the cross-reactivity study. The clinical performance study was performed in a retrospective multi-centric evaluation on aliquots of 328 nasopharyngeal samples. COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip results were compared with qRT-PCR as golden standard for COVID-19 diagnostics.

Results

In the analytical performance study, the reproducibility showed a between-observer disagreement of 1.7%, a robustness of 98%, an overall satisfying user friendliness and no cross-reactivity with other virus-infected nasopharyngeal samples. In the clinical performance study performed in three different clinical laboratories we found an overall sensitivity and specificity of 57.6% and 99.5% respectively with an accuracy of 82.6%. The cut-off of the assay was found at Ct<22. User-friendliness analysis and risk management assessment through Ishikawa diagram demonstrate that COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip may be implemented in clinical laboratories according to biosafety recommendations.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip represents a promising rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen assay for the first-line diagnosis of COVID-19 in 15 minutes. Its role in the proposed diagnostic algorithm is complementary to the currently-used molecular techniques.
Extensive weight loss can reduce immune age by altering IgG N-glycosylation
Authors: Greto Valentina L , Cvetko Ana , Štambuk Tamara , Dempster Niall J , Kifer Domagoj , Deriš Helena , Cindrić Ana , Vučković Frano , Falchi Mario , Gillies Richard S , Tomlinson Jeremy W , Gornik Olga , Sgromo Bruno , Spector Tim D , Menni Cristina , Geremia Alessandra , Arancibia-Cárcamo Carolina V , Lauc Gordan
Published: April 2020

Background

Obesity is a major global health problem, and is associated with increased cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality. Protein glycosylation is a frequent postranslational modification, highly responsive to numerous pathophysiological conditions and ageing. The prospect of biological age reduction, by reverting glycosylation changes through metabolic intervention, opens many possibilities. We have investigated whether weight loss interventions affect inflammation- and ageing-associated IgG glycosylation changes, in a longitudinal cohort of bariatric surgery patients. To support potential findings, BMI-related glycosylation changes were monitored in a longitudinal twins cohort.

Methods

IgG N-glycans were chromatographically profiled in 37 obese patients, subjected to low-calorie diet, followed by bariatric surgery, across multiple timepoints. Similarly, plasma-derived IgG N-glycan traits were longitudinally monitored in 1,680 participants from the TwinsUK cohort.

Results

Low-calorie diet induced a marked decrease in the levels of IgG N-glycans with bisecting GlcNAc, whose higher levels are usually associated with ageing and inflammatory conditions. Bariatric surgery resulted in extensive alterations of the IgG glycome that accompanied progressive weight loss during one-year follow-up. We observed a significant increase in digalactosylated and sialylated glycans, and a substantial decrease in agalactosylated and core fucosylated IgG glycans. In general, this IgG glycan profile is associated with a younger biological age and reflects an enhanced anti-inflammatory IgG potential. Loss of BMI over a 20 year period in the TwinsUK cohort validated a weight loss-associated agalactosylation decrease and an increase in digalactosylation.

Conclusions

Altogether, these findings highlight that weight loss substantially affects IgG N-glycosylation, resulting in reduced biological and immune age.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

HIGHLIGHTS

Obesity is associated to inflammation-related agalactosylated and bisected IgG glycoforms

IgG galactosylation and sialylation increase after bariatric surgery-induced weight loss

Progressive decrease of BMI is associated to increased IgG galactosylation, implying a reduction of biological age
Prevalence and Nature of Sexual Violence in Older Adults in Europe: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Evidence
Authors: Nobels Anne , Vandeviver Christophe , Beaulieu Marie , Inescu Adina Cismaru , Nisen Laurent , Van Den Noortgate Nele , Beken Tom Vander , Lemmens Gilbert , Keygnaert Ines
Published: April 2020

Sexual violence (SV) is an important public health issue with a potential major impact on victims and their peers, offspring and community. However, SV in older adults is under-researched. This paper aims to establish the prevalence and nature of SV in older adults in Europe, link this with existing policies and health care workers’ response to sexual health needs in older age and critically revise the current used frameworks in public health research.

We applied a Critical Interpretative Synthesis. After the first phase of purposive sampling we included 14 references. Another 14 references were included after the second phase of theoretical sampling. We ultimately included 16 peer-reviewed articles and 12 documents from the grey literature.

0.0% to 3.1% of older adults in Europe were sexually victimised in the past year. Lifetime prevalence of SV was 6.3%. Information on specific risk factors and assailants committing SV in old age is non- existing. Although in theory policy makers increasingly recognise the importance of sexual health in older age, SV in older adults is not mentioned in policy documents on sexual and reproductive health and rights and ageing. In clinical practice, the sexual health needs of older adults remain often unmet. Knowledge about SV in older adults is still limited. Ongoing research does not fully grasp the complexity of SV in older adults. Greater awareness about this topic could contribute to a revision of current policies and health care practices, leading to more tailored care for older victims of SV.
Investigating duration and intensity of Covid-19 social-distancing strategies
Authors: Neuwirth C. , Gruber C. , Murphy T
Published: April 2020

The exponential character of the recent Covid-19 outbreak requires a change in strategy from containment to mitigation. Meanwhile, most countries apply social distancing with the objective to keep the number of critical cases below the capabilities of the health care system. Due to the novelty and rapid spread of the virus, an a priori assessment of this strategy was not possible. In this study, we present a model-based systems analysis to assess the effectiveness of social distancing measures in terms of intensity and duration of application. Results show a super-linear scaling between intensity (percent contact reduction) and required duration of application to have an added value (a lower number of fatalities). This holds true for an effective reproduction of R > 1 and is reverted for R < 1. If R is not reduced below 1, secondary effects of required long-term isolation are likely to unravel the added value of disease mitigation. If an extinction is not feasible, we recommend moderate social-distancing that is well balanced against capability limits of national health-care systems.
A Nationwide Survey of UK cardiac surgeons’ view on clinical decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Benedetto Umberto , Goodwin Andrew , Kendall Simon , Uppal Rakesh , Akowuah Enoch
Published: April 2020

Background

No firm recommendations are currently available to guide decision making for patients requiring cardiac surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Systematic appraisal of national expert consensus can be used to generate interim recommendations until data from clinical observations will become available. Hence, we aimed to collect and quantitatively appraise nationwide UK senior surgeons’ opinion on clinical decision making for patients requiring cardiac surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We mailed a web-based questionnaire to all consultant cardiac surgeons through the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland (SCTS) mailing list on the 17th April 2020 and we pre-determined to close the survey on the 21st April 2020. This survey was primarily designed to gather information on UK surgeons’ opinion using 12 items. Strong consensus was predefined as an opinion shared by at least 60% of responding consultants.

Results

A total of 86 consultant surgeons undertook the survey. All UK cardiac units were represented by at least one consultant. Strong consensus was achieved for the following key questions:1) before hospital admission every patient should receive nasopharyngeal swab, PCR and chest CT; 2) the use of full PPE should to be adopted in every case by the theatre team regardless patient’s COVID-19 status; 3) the risk of COVID-19 exposure for patients undergoing heart surgery should be considered moderate to high and likely to increase mortality if it occurs; 4) cardiac procedure should be decided based on ad-hoc multidisciplinary team discussion for every patient. The majority believed that both aortic and mitral surgery should be considered in selected cases. The role of CABG surgery during the pandemic was more controversial.

Conclusions

In the current unprecedented scenario, the present survey provides information for generating interim recommendations until data from clinical observations will become available.

Perspective statement

Systematic appraisal of national expert consensus can be used to generate interim recommendations for patients undergoing cardiac surgery during COVID-19 pandemic until data from clinical observations will become available.

Central message

No firm recommendations are currently available to guide decision making for patients requiring cardiac surgery during the pandemic. This can translate into significant variability in clinical practice and patients’ outcomes across cardiac units. Systematic appraisal of national expert consensus can represent a rapid and efficient instrument to provide support to heath policy makers and other stakeholders in generating interim recommendations until data from clinical observations will become available.
Cell-density independent increased lymphocyte production and loss rates post-autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Authors: Baliu-Piqué Mariona , van Hoeven Vera , Drylewicz Julia , van der Wagen Lotte E. , Janssen Anke , Otto Sigrid A. , van Zelm Menno C. , de Boer Rob J. , Kuball Jürgen , Borghans José A.M. , Tesselaar Kiki
Published: April 2020

Lymphocyte numbers need to be quite tightly regulated. It is generally assumed that lymphocyte production and survival rates increase homeostatically when lymphocyte numbers decrease. This widely-accepted concept is largely based on experiments in mice. In humans, lymphocyte reconstitution usually occurs very slowly, which challenges the idea that density dependent homeostasis aids recovery from lymphopenia. Usingin vivodeuterium labelling, we quantified lymphocyte production and survival rates in patients who underwent an autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (autoHSCT). We indeed found that the production rates of most T-cell and B-cell subsets in autoHSCT-patients were 2 to 8-times higher than in healthy controls. These increased lymphocyte production rates went hand in hand with a 3 to 9-fold increase in cell loss rates, and both rates did not normalize when cell numbers did. This challenges the concept of homeostatic regulation of lymphocyte production and survival rates in humans.
A Statistical Analysis Of CoV-19 Positive Test Frequency Data Indicates A Need For Greater Attention To CoV-19 Test Quality And Pre-Wuhan Cov-19 Prevalence
Authors: Sherley James L.
Published: April 2020

Increased attention to analysis of SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-19) positive test frequency data is essential for achievement of better knowledge of the natural history of the virus in human populations, improved accuracy of CoV-19 epidemiological data, and development of public response policies that are better crafted to address the current CoV-19-induced global crisis. A statistical analysis of currently available positive test frequency data reveals a surprisingly uniform relationship between the number of CoV-19 test performed and the number of positive tests obtained. The uniformity is particularly striking for United States CoV-19 test data. Such observations warrant closer evaluation of other factors, besides virus spread, that may also contribute to the nature of the coronavirus pandemic. These include indigenous CoV-19 and the quality of CoV-19 testing.
On the reliability of model-based predictions in the context of the current COVID epidemic event: impact of outbreak peak phase and data paucity
Authors: Daunizeau Jean , Moran Rosalyn , Mattout Jérémie , Friston Karl
Published: April 2020

The pandemic spread of the COVID-19 virus has, as of 20thof April 2020, reached most countries of the world. In an effort to design informed public health policies, many modelling studies have been performed to predict crucial outcomes of interest, including ICU solicitation, cumulated death counts, etc… The corresponding data analyses however, mostly rely on restricted (openly available) data sources, which typically include daily death rates and confirmed COVID cases time series. In addition, many of these predictions are derived before the peak of the outbreak has been observed yet (as is still currently the case for many countries). In this work, we show that peak phase and data paucity have a substantial impact on the reliability of model predictions. Although we focus on a recent model of the COVID pandemics, our conclusions most likely apply to most existing models, which are variants of the so-called “Susceptible-Infected-Removed” or SIR framework. Our results highlight the need for performing systematic reliability evaluations for all models that currently inform public health policies. They also motivate a plea for gathering and opening richer and more reliable data time series (e.g., ICU occupancy, negative test rates, social distancing commitment reports, etc).
Forecast analysis of the epidemics trend of COVID-19 in the United States by a generalized fractional-order SEIR model
Authors: Xu Conghui , Yu Yongguang , Chen YangQuan , Lu Zhenzhen
Published: April 2020

In this paper, a generalized fractional-order SEIR model is proposed, denoted by SEIQRP model, which has a basic guiding significance for the prediction of the possible outbreak of infectious diseases like COVID-19 and other insect diseases in the future. Firstly, some qualitative properties of the model are analyzed. The basic reproduction number R0 is derived. When R0 < 1, the disease-free equilibrium point is unique and locally asymptotically stable. When R0 > 1, the endemic equilibrium point is also unique. Furthermore, some conditions are established to ensure the local asymptotic stability of disease-free and endemic equilibrium points. The trend of COVID-19 spread in the United States is predicted. Considering the influence of the individual behavior and government mitigation measurement, a modified SEIQRP model is proposed, defined as SEIQRPD model. According to the real data of the United States, it is found that our improved model has a better prediction ability for the epidemic trend in the next two weeks. Hence, the epidemic trend of the United States in the next two weeks is investigated, and the peak of isolated cases are predicted. The modified SEIQRP model successfully capture the development process of COVID-19, which provides an important reference for understanding the trend of the outbreak.
The impact of the COVID19 pandemic and initial period of lockdown on the mental health and wellbeing of UK adults
Authors: White Ross G. , Van der Boor Carine
Published: April 2020

Mental health and wellbeing impacts of COVID19 were assessed in a convenience sample of 600 UK adults using a cross-sectional design. Recruited over a two-week period during the initial phase of the government lockdown, participants completed an online survey that included COVID19-related questions, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the WHO-5 and the OXCAP-MH. Self-isolating prior to lockdown, increased feelings of isolation since the lockdown, and having COVID19-related livelihood concerns, were associated with poorer mental health, wellbeing and quality of life. Perceiving increased kindness, community connectedness, and being an essential worker were associated with better mental health and wellbeing outcomes.
EXPLAINABLE-BY-DESIGN APPROACH FOR COVID-19 CLASSIFICATION VIA CT-SCAN
Authors: Angelov Plamen , Soares Eduardo
Published: April 2020

Abstract

The COVID-19 disease has widely spread all over the world since the beginning of 2020. On January 30, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency. At the time of writing this paper the number of infected about 2 million people worldwide and took over 125,000 lives, the advanced public health systems of European countries as well as of USA were overwhelmed. In this paper, we propose an eXplainable Deep Learning approach to detect COVID-19 from computer tomography (CT) - Scan images. The rapid detection of any COVID-19 case is of supreme importance to ensure timely treatment. From a public health perspective, rapid patient isolation is also extremely important to curtail the rapid spread of the disease. From this point of view the proposed method offers an easy to use and understand tool to the front-line medics. It is of huge importance not only the statistical accuracy and other measures, but also the ability to understand and interpret how the decision was made. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to surpass the other published results which were using standard Deep Neural Network in terms of performance. Moreover, it produce highly interpretable results which may be helpful for the early detection of the disease by specialists.
Cell-based therapies for COVID-19: A living systematic review
Authors: Rada Gabriel , Corbalán Javiera , Rojas Patricio
Published: April 2020

Objective

This living systematic review aims to provide a timely, rigorous and
continuously updated summary of the available evidence on the role of
cell-based therapies in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

Data sources

We conducted searches in PubMed/Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central
Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), grey literature and in a
centralised repository in L-OVE (Living OVerview of Evidence). L-OVE is a
platform that maps PICO questions to evidence from Epistemonikos database.
In response to the COVID-19 emergency, L-OVE was adapted to expand the range
of evidence it covers and customised to group all COVID-19 evidence in one
place. All the searches covered the period until April 23, 2020 (one day
before submission).

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies and methods

We adapted an already published common protocol for multiple parallel
systematic reviews to the specificities of this question. We searched for
randomised trials evaluating the effect of cell-based therapies versus
placebo or no treatment in patients with COVID-19. Anticipating the lack of
randomised trials directly addressing this question, we also searched for
trials evaluating other coronavirus infections, such as MERS-CoV and
SARS-CoV, and non-randomised studies in COVID-19. Two reviewers
independently screened each study for eligibility.

A living, web-based version of this review will be openly available
during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will resubmit it every time the conclusions
change or whenever there are substantial updates.

Results

We screened 1,043 records but no study was considered eligible.

We identified 61 ongoing studies, including 39 randomised trials
evaluating different types of cell-based therapies in COVID-19.

Conclusions

We did not find any studies that met our inclusion criteria and hence
there is no evidence to support or refute the use of cell-based therapies in
the treatment of patients with COVID-19. A substantial number of ongoing
studies should provide valuable evidence to inform researchers and decision
makers in the near future.

PROSPERO Registration number

CRD42020179711

Box 1

Linked resources in this Living Systematic Review Common
protocol

Common protocol for the systematic reviews and overviews of
systematic reviews being conducted by the COVID-19 L·OVE Working
Group.

Available here

Living review

Web version of this systematic review, presented in a ‘living
systematic review format’. This means it is continuously updated as
soon as new evidence emerges.

Available here

Living OVerview of Evidence - L·OVE

An open platform that uses artificial intelligence and a broad
network of contributors to identify all of the evidence relevant to
this and other healthcare questions, including those related to
COVID-19.

Available here
Pneumask: Modified Full-Face Snorkel Masks as Reusable Personal Protective Equipment for Hospital Personnel
Authors: Kroo Laurel , Kothari Anesta , Hannebelle Melanie , Herring George , Pollina Thibaut , Chang Ray , Peralta Dominic , Banavar Samhita P. , Flaum Eliott , Soto-Montoya Hazel , Li Hongquan , Combes Kyle , Pan Emma , Vu Khang , Yen Kelly , Dale James , Kolbay Patrick , Ellgas Simon , Konte Rebecca , Hajian Rozhin , Zhong Grace , Jacobs Noah , Jain Amit , Kober Filip , Ayala Gerry , Allinne Quentin , Cucinelli Nicholas , Kasper Dave , Borroni Luca , Gerber Patrick , Venook Ross , Baek Peter , Arora Nitin , Wagner Philip , Miki Roberto , Kohn Jocelyne , Bitran David Kohn , Pearson John , Herrera Cristián Muñiz , Prakash Manu
Published: April 2020

Here we adapt and evaluate a full-face snorkel mask for use as personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers, who lack appropriate alternatives during the COVID-19 crisis in the spring of 2020. The design (referred to as Pneumask) consists of a custom snorkel-specific adapter that couples the snorkel-port of the mask to a rated filter (either a medical-grade ventilator inline filter or an industrial filter). This design has been tested for the sealing capability of the mask, filter performance, CO2 buildup and clinical usability. These tests found the Pneumask capable of forming a seal that exceeds the standards required for half-face respirators or N95 respirators. Filter testing indicates a range of options with varying performance depending on the quality of filter selected, but with typical filter performance exceeding or comparable to the N95 standard. CO2 buildup was found to be roughly equivalent to levels found in half-face elastomeric respirators in literature. Clinical usability tests indicate sufficient visibility and, while speaking is somewhat muffled, this can be addressed via amplification (Bluetooth voice relay to cell phone speakers through an app) in noisy environments. We present guidance on the assembly, usage (donning and doffing) and decontamination protocols. The benefit of the Pneumask as PPE is that it is reusable for longer periods than typical disposable N95 respirators, as the snorkel mask can withstand rigorous decontamination protocols (that are standard to regular elastomeric respirators). With the dire worldwide shortage of PPE for medical personnel, our conclusions on the performance and efficacy of Pneumask as an N95-alternative technology are cautiously optimistic.

Key points

Full-face snorkel masks are adapted for use as Personal Protective Equipment during the COVID-19 crisis, using a custom adapter that facilitates the attachment of inline medical-grade respiratory filters or NIOSH industrial respirator filters. This solution was designed as a reusable stopgap solution for healthcare workers to help address the short-term global N95 respirator shortage.
CovidNLP: A Web Application for Distilling Systemic Implications of COVID-19 Pandemic with Natural Language Processing
Authors: Awasthi Raghav , Pal Ridam , Singh Pradeep , Nagori Aditya , Reddy Suryatej , Gulati Amogh , Kumaraguru Ponnurangam , Sethi Tavpritesh
Published: April 2020

The flood of conflicting COVID-19 research has revealed that COVID-19 continues to be an enigma. Although more than 14,000 research articles on COVID-19 have been published with the disease taking a pandemic proportion, clinicians and researchers are struggling to distill knowledge for furthering clinical management and research. In this study, we address this gap for a targeted user group, i.e. clinicians, researchers, and policymakers by applying natural language processing to develop a CovidNLP dashboard in order to speed up knowledge discovery. The WHO has created a repository of about more than 5000 peer-reviewed and curated research articles on varied aspects including epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, social factors, and economics. We summarised all the articles in the WHO Database through an extractive summarizer followed by an exploration of the feature space using word embeddings which were then used to visualize the summarized associations of COVID-19 as found in the text. Clinicians, researchers, and policymakers will not only discover the direct effects of COVID-19 but also the systematic implications such as the anticipated rise in TB and cancer mortality due to the non-availability of drugs during the export lockdown as highlighted by our models. These demonstrate the utility of mining massive literature with natural language processing for rapid distillation and knowledge updates. This can help the users understand, synthesize, and take pre-emptive action with the available peer-reviewed evidence on COVID-19. Our models will be continuously updated with new literature and we have made our resource CovidNLP publicly available in a user-friendly fashion at http://covidnlp.tavlab.iiitd.edu.in/.

Data Availability Statement

All the data used in this study are publicly available from the WHO Covid-19 Global Literature on coronavirus disease maintained at https://search.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/. Our analysis and the interactive resource CovidNLP is publicly available in a user friendly fashion at http://covidnlp.tavlab.iiitd.edu.in
A COVID-19 epidemic model integrating direct and fomite transmission as well as household structure
Authors: Wijaya Karunia Putra , Ganegoda Naleen , Jayathunga Yashika , Götz Thomas , Bock Wolfgang , Schäfer Moritz , Heidrich Peter
Published: April 2020

This paper stresses its base contribution on a new SIR-type model for COVID-19 including direct and fomite transmission as well as the effect of distinct household structures. To what extent increasing the physical-distancing-related contact radius and enhancing mass control (public curfew, lockdown, workplace clearance, and school closure) reduce the number of predicted active cases is studied via parameter estimation.
The nexus of travel restriction, air pollution and COVID-19 infection: Investigation from a megacity of the southern China
Authors: Li Wei , Chen Xiaohong
Published: April 2020

To control and prevent the spread of COVID-19, generalized social distancing measures, such as traffic control and travel restriction acted in China. Previous studies indicated that the traffic conditions had significant influence on the air quality, and which was related to the respiratory diseases. This study aimed to reveal the nexus of travel restriction, air pollution and COVID-19. Shenzhen, one of the top 4 megacities in China was considered as the study area, statistical analysis methods, including linear/nonlinear regression and bivariate correlation was conducted to evaluate the relationship of the traffic and passenger population, travel intensity, NO2, PM10, PM2.5 and the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases. The results suggested that traffic control and travel restriction had a significant correlation with the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, which shown negative correlation with the traffic intensity of the city, NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 show significant positive correlation with the traffic intensity, traffic control and travel restriction would slow down and prevent the spread of the viruses at the outbreak period. Different study scale might results in different results, thus the research focused on the nexus of traffic control and travel restriction, air pollution and COVID-19 should been enhanced in future, and differentiated epidemic control and prevention measures should be considered according to the different situation of cities as well as countries.
Accuracy, Sensitivity, and Specificity of Different Tests to Detect Impaired Hand Function in Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Alonso Cintia C. G. , de Freitas Paulo Barbosa , Pires Raquel , de Oliveira Dalton Lustosa , Ferreira de Freitas Sandra M. S.
Published: April 2020

Introduction

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) can affect hand function. To examine the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of four traditionally used hand function tests in individuals with PD by using the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Methods

Eighty individuals (24 with PD and 56 healthy controls) performed the Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHF, with seven subtests), Nine-Hole Peg Test, and maximum power and pinch grip strength tests. The outcomes of the tests were compared between groups. The values of the area under the curve from the ROC analysis assessed the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the tests.

Results

Individuals with PD presented worst performance than controls in all tests, except the writing subtest of the JTHF and maximum power strength. Two subtests of the JTHF, the turning cards and moving large, heavy objects, showed the highest area under the curve in the ROC analysis. The Nine-Hole Peg Test was able to distinguish the PD stage and progression, while the simulated feeding of the JTHFT subtest showed a high area under the curve only for PD stage analysis.

Conclusion

Two dexterity tasks (turning cards and moving large, heavy objects) were highly discriminative of the hand function impairments in individuals with PD. The Nine-Hole Peg Test provides the most accurate identification of the PD stage and progression based on hand function impairment. Different dexterity tasks should be used depending on the aims of the evaluation, whether for diagnosis, monitoring, or classification of the PD.
Effects of Extra-curricular Physical Activity Programs on High-school Girls: A Systematic Review
Authors: Houle Laura-Maude , Gilbert Jo-Anne , Paiement Karine , Ayotte Alexandra , Mathieu Marie-Eve
Published: April 2020

Introduction

Most adolescents do not meet physical activity (PA) recommendations, especially girls. Physical inactivity has major physical and psychosocial deleterious effects on adolescents. Little is known about the effect of girl-only, extra-curricular PA programs designed for adolescents on physical and psychosocial outcomes. Hence, this systematic review assessed quantitative and qualitative studies evaluating the effects of such interventions. It also aimed at identifying recommendations to improve their implementation and efficacy.

Methods

Literature published until June 4, 2018, was searched in three electronic databases. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of studies presenting results on physical and psychosocial outcomes, not those presenting solely implementation recommendations.

Results

Seventeen quantitative and qualitative studies describing 10 different PA programs were included. Six of these studies provided recommendations for implementation only. The overall quality of the studies assessing the effects on physical and psychosocial outcomes was moderate, with an average score of 58%. The PA programs assessed did not lead to clear improvements in PA levels or other physical outcomes. Concerning psychosocial results, there is some evidence that the programs could improve dimensions of the self-esteem construct.

Conclusion

Future studies should assess the effect of girl-only, extra-curricular PA programs on the health-related habits, such as reduction of sedentary time among adolescents and sleep duration. More studies evaluating the psychosocial effects as a primary outcome are recommended to obtain a clearer understanding of the benefits. This review gathers recommendations to improve the efficacy of future extra-curricular PA programs designed to increase PA levels in girls.
Signal bias at glucagon family receptors: rationale and downstream impacts
Authors: Jones Ben , McGlone Emma Rose , Fang Zijian , Pickford Phil , Corrêa Ivan R , Oishi Atsuro , Jockers Ralf , Inoue Asuka , Kumar Sunil , Görlitz Frederik , Dunsby Chris , French Paul MW , Rutter Guy A , Tan Tricia , Tomas Alejandra , Bloom Stephen R
Published: April 2020

Receptors for the peptide hormones glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon (GCG) are important regulators of insulin secretion and energy metabolism. Recently described GLP-1 receptor agonists showing signal bias in favour of cyclic AMP over β-arrestin-2 recruitment have delivered promising results in preclinical studies. Here we first sought to establish the role of β-arrestins in the control of intracellular signalling and trafficking responses at the closely related GLP-1, GIP and GCG receptors, through studies performed in cells depleted of both β-arrestin isoforms. We also generated analogues of GLP-1, GCG and GIP which in some cases showed selective reduction in β-arrestin-2 recruitmentversuscAMP signalling compared to the parent peptide. Despite reduced acute signalling potency and/or efficacy, some biased GLP-1 and GIP analogues increased maximal sustained insulin secretion from INS-1 832/3 clonal beta cells, although only at high agonist concentrations. Biased GCG analogues did not affect maximal insulin release, or glucose output in hepatocytes.
Negative regulation ofACE2by interferonsin vivoand its genetic control
Authors: Ansari M. Azim , Marchi Emanuele , Ramamurthy Narayan , Aschenbrenner Dominik , Hackstein Carl-Philipp ,   STOP-HCV consortium, ISARIC-4C Investigators, Lin Shang-Kuan , Bowden Rory , Sharma Eshita , Pedergnana Vincent , Venkateswaran Suresh , Kugathasan Subra , Mo Angela , Gibson Greg , Cooke Graham , McLauchlan John , Barnes Eleanor , Baillie John Kenneth , Teichmann Sarah , Mentzer Alex , Todd John , Knight Julian , Uhlig Holm , Klenerman Paul
Published: April 2020

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in widespread morbidity and mortality globally.ACE2is a receptor for SARS-CoV-2 and differences in expression may affect susceptibility to COVID-19. Using HCV-infected liver tissue from 195 individuals, we discovered that among genes negatively correlated withACE2, interferon signalling pathways were highly enriched and observed down-regulation ofACE2after interferon-alpha treatment. Negative correlation was also found in the gastrointestinal tract and in lung tissue from a murine model of SARS-CoV-1 infection suggesting conserved regulation ofACE2across tissue and species. Performing a genome-wide eQTL analysis, we discovered that polymorphisms in the interferon lambda (IFNL) region are associated withACE2expression. IncreasedACE2expression in the liver was also associated with age and presence of cirrhosis. Polymorphisms in theIFNLregion may impact not only antiviral responses but alsoACE2with potential consequences for clinical outcomes in distinct ethnic groups and with implications for therapeutic interventions.
Bayesian inference of kinetic schemes for ion channels by Kalman filtering
Authors: Münch Jan L. , Paul Fabian , Schmauder Ralf , Benndorf Klaus
Published: April 2020

Inferring adequate kinetic schemes for ion channel gating from ensemble currents is a daunting task due to limited information in the data. We address this problem by using a parallelized Bayesian filter to specify hidden Markov models for current and fluorescence data. We demonstrate the flexibility of this algorithm by including different noise distributions. Our generalized Kalman filter outperforms both a classical Kalman filter and a rate equation approach when applied to patch-clamp data exhibiting realistic open-channel noise. The derived generalization also enables inclusion of orthogonal fluorescence data, making unidentifiable parameters identifiable and increasing the accuracy of the parameter estimates by an order of magnitude. By using Bayesian highest credibility volumes, we found that our approach, in contrast to the rate equation approach, yields a realistic quantification of uncertainty. Furthermore, the Bayesian filter delivers unbiased estimates for a wider range of data quality and identifies parameters which the rate equation approach does not identify. These results also demonstrate the power of assessing the validity of algorithms by Bayesian credibility volumes in general. Finally, we show that our Bayesian filter is more robust against errors induced by either analog filtering before analog-to-digital conversion or by limited time resolution of fluorescence data than a rate equation approach.
Learning the architectural features that predict functional similarity of neural networks
Authors: Haber Adam , Schneidman Elad
Published: April 2020

The mapping of the wiring diagrams of neural circuits promises to allow us to link structure and function of neural networks. Current approaches to analyzingconnectomesrely mainly on graph-theoretical tools, but these may downplay the complex nonlinear dynamics of single neurons and networks, and the way networks respond to their inputs. Here, we measure the functional similarity of simulated networks of neurons, by quantifying the similitude of their spiking patterns in response to the same stimuli. We find that common graph theory metrics convey little information about the similarity of networks’ responses. Instead, we learn a functional metric between networks based on their synaptic differences, and show that it accurately predicts the similarity of novel networks, for a wide range of stimuli. We then show that a sparse set of architectural features - the sum of synaptic inputs that each neuron receives and the sum of each neuron’s synaptic outputs - predicts the functional similarity of networks of up to 100 cells, with high accuracy. We thus suggest new architectural design principles that shape the function of neural networks, which conform with experimental evidence of homeostatic mechanisms.
Context-dependent extinction learning emerging from raw sensory inputs: A reinforcement learning approach
Authors: Walther Thomas , Diekmann Nicolas , Vijayabaskaran Sandhiya , Donoso José R. , Manahan-Vaughan Denise , Wiskott Laurenz , Cheng Sen
Published: April 2020

The context-dependence of extinction learning has been well studied and requires the hippocampus. However, the underlying neural mechanisms are still poorly understood. Using memory-driven reinforcement learning and deep neural networks, we developed a model that learns to navigate autonomously in biologically realistic VR environments based on raw camera inputs alone. Neither is context represented explicitly in our model, nor is context change signaled. We find that memory-intact agents learn distinct context representations, and develop ABA renewal, whereas memory-impaired agents do not. These findings reproduce the behavior of control and hippocampal animals, respectively. We therefore propose that the role of the hippocampus in the context-dependence of extinction learning might stem from its function in episodic-like memory and not in context-representation per se. We conclude that context-dependence can emerge from raw visual inputs.
The Alzheimer’s disease protective P522R variant ofPLCG2, consistently enhances stimulus-dependent PLCγ2 activation, depleting substrate and altering cell function
Authors: Maguire Emily , Menzies Georgina E. , Phillips Thomas , Sasner Michael , Williams Harriet M. , Czubala Magdalena A. , Evans Neil , Cope Emma L , Sims Rebecca , Howell Gareth R. , Lloyd-Evans Emyr , Williams Julie , Allen Nicholas D. , Taylor Philip R.
Published: April 2020

Recent genome-wide association studies of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have identified variants implicating immune pathways in disease development. A rare coding variant ofPLCG2, which encodes PLCγ2, shows a significant protective effect for AD (rs72824905, P522R,P=5.38×10−10, Odds Ratio = 0.68). Molecular dynamic modelling of the PLCγ2-R522 variant, situated within the auto-inhibitory domain of PLCγ2, suggests a structural change to the protein. Through CRISPR-engineering we have generated novelPLCG2-R522 harbouring human induced pluripotent cell lines (hiPSC) and a mouse knockin model, neither of which exhibits alterations in endogenousPLCG2expression. Mouse microglia and macrophages and hiPSC-derived microglia-like cells with the R522 mutation, all demonstrate a consistent non-redundant hyperfunctionality in the context of normal expression of other PLC isoforms. This signalling alteration manifests as enhanced cellular Ca2+store release (∼20-40% increase) in response to physiologically-relevant stimuli (e.g. Fc receptor ligation and Aβ oligomers). This hyperfunctionality resulted in increased PIP2depletion in the cells with the PLCγ2-R522 variant after exposure to stimuli and reduced basal detection of PIP2levelsin vivo. These PLCγ2-R522 associated abnormalities resulted in impairments to phagocytosis (fungal and bacterial particles) and enhanced endocytosis (Aβ oligomers and dextran). PLCγ2 sits downstream of disease relevant pathways, such as TREM2 and CSF1R and alterations in its activity, direct impacts cell function, which in the context of the inherent drugability of enzymes such as PLCγ2, raise the prospect of manipulation of PLCγ2 as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s Disease.