bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association of dietary patterns and body phenotypes in Brazilian adolescents
Authors: Rinaldi Ana Elisa Madalena , Conde Wolney Lisboa , Enes Carla Cristina 
Published: May 2021

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the association between dietary patterns and physical activity and body phenotypes in Brazilian adolescents.MethodsCross-sectional study using data from a school-based study with 1,022 Brazilian adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. Body phenotypes (BP) and dietary patterns (DP) were defined using principal components analysis. BP was defined using anthropometric, body composition, biochemical, and sexual maturation, and DP from 19 food groups categorized from a food frequency questionnaire containing 58 food items. We performed a scatter plot to describe the relationship between energy expenditure assessed by MET and BP scores. The association between DP and BP, adjusted by sex, age and socioeconomic status, was assessed by linear regression model.ResultsWe identified five BP (BP1adiposity, BP2puberty, BP3biochemical, BP4muscular, BP5lipids_biochemical) and five DP (DP1ultraprocessed_foods, DP2fresh_foods, DP3bread_rice_beans, DP4culinary_preparation, DP5cakes_rice_beans). There are higher scores of BP_adiposity for obese adolescents, but energy expenditure was similar for obese and non-obese. Physical activity was positively associated with body mass index, BP_adiposity and BP_puberty. We observed negative association between DP_ultraprocessed and BMI, and a positive between DP_fresh_foods. DP_fresh_foods was positively associated with BP_adiposity; DP_ultraprocessed and DP_culinary_preparation were negatively associated with this BP. BP_biochemical was negatively associated with DP_fresh_foods.ConclusionWe identified negative association between DP mainly composed by ultraprocessed foods and fresh foods and BPadiposity. These associations need to be more explored, especially in adolescents, because both DP and BP were defined using multivariate analysis.
Effectiveness of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and ChAdOx1 adenovirus vector vaccine on mortality following COVID-19
Authors: Bernal Jamie Lopez , Andrews Nick , Gower Charlotte , Stowe Julia , Tessier Elise , Simmons Ruth , Ramsay Mary 
Published: May 2021

AbstractWe estimated risk of death in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated COVID-19 cases. Cases vaccinated with 1 dose of BNT162b2 had 44% reduced risk of death, 55% with 1 dose of ChAdOx1, and 69% with 2 doses of BNT162b2. This is on top of the protection provided against becoming a case.
Telemedicine For Prenatal Care: A Systematic Review
Authors: Nguyen Eliza , Engle Grace , Subramanian Shalini , Fryer Kimberly 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACTObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of telehealth-enhanced prenatal care.Data SourcesWe searched for primary literature in PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases.Methods of Study SelectionStudies were included if they were written in English and used telehealth as an adjunct to or substitute for elements of a comprehensive prenatal care system, with pregnant women as the study population. Studies were excluded if they did not involve comprehensive prenatal care, were not in English, or were abstracts only. Two reviewers independently screened studies by titles, abstracts, and full text. Conflicts were resolved by a third reviewer. Remaining conflicts were resolved by a fourth reviewer. Risk of bias was performed independently by two reviewers. Conflicts were resolved by a third reviewer.Tabulation, Integration and ResultsThe initial search identified 2707 studies, of which 7 met inclusion criteria. One additional study was identified in the grey literature. Studies included 4 non-randomized controlled studies, 1 randomized controlled trial, 2 qualitative studies, and 1 active clinical trial. Telehealth-enhanced prenatal care included remote monitoring and/or virtual visits. Interventions reduced the number of in-person appointments. Patients and providers had high rates of satisfaction with prenatal care delivered via telehealth. Pregnancy outcomes were similar between the intervention and control groups with the exception of one study identifying higher rates of pre-eclampsia and another showing higher rates of gestational diabetes in the telehealth group. Risk of bias assessment revealed moderate bias in all of the non-randomized studies. The randomized controlled trial had low risk of bias.ConclusionTelemedicine-enhanced prenatal care may decrease the number of in-person prenatal care visits and increase access to care. Future studies should be done to determine neonatal and maternal outcomes of remote care and to study effectiveness of these interventions for women of color and low socioeconomic status.
Rapid incidence estimation from SARS-CoV-2 genomes reveals decreased case detection in Europe during summer 2020
Authors: Smith Maureen Rebecca , Trofimova Maria , Weber Ariane , Duport Yannick , Kühnert Denise , von Kleist Max 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACTIn May 2021, over 160 million SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported worldwide. Yet, the true amount of infections is unknown and believed to exceed the reported numbers by several fold, depending on national testing policies that can strongly affect the proportion of undetected cases. To overcome this testing bias and better assess SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics, we propose a genome-based computational pipeline, GInPipe, to reconstruct the SARS-CoV-2 incidence dynamics through time. After validating GInPipe against in silico generated outbreak data, as well as more complex phylodynamic analyses, we use the pipeline to reconstruct incidence histories in Denmark, Scotland, Switzerland, and Victoria (Australia) solely from viral sequence data.The proposed method robustly reconstructs the different pandemic waves in the investigated countries and regions, does not require phylodynamic reconstruction, and can be directly applied to publicly deposited SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data sets. We observe differences in the relative magnitude of reconstructed versus reported incidences during times with sparse availability of diagnostic tests. Using the reconstructed incidence dynamics, we assess how testing policies may have affected the probability to diagnose and report infected individuals. We find that under-reporting was highest in mid 2020 in all analysed countries, coinciding with liberal testing policies at times of low test capacities.Due to the increased use of real-time sequencing, it is envisaged that GInPipe can complement established surveillance tools to monitor the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and evaluate testing policies. The method executes within minutes on very large data sets and is freely available as a fully automated pipeline from https://github.com/KleistLab/GInPipe.
The specter of Manaus: the risks of a rapid return to pre-pandemic conditions after COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Authors: Van Egeren Debra , Stoddard Madison , Novokhodko Alexander , Rogers Michael , Joseph-McCarthy Diane , Zetter Bruce , Chakravarty Arijit 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe development and deployment of several SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in a little over a year is an unprecedented achievement of modern medicine. The high levels of efficacy against transmission for some of these vaccines makes it feasible to use them to suppress SARS-CoV-2 altogether in regions with high vaccine acceptance. However, viral variants with reduced susceptibility to vaccinal and natural immunity threaten the utility of vaccines, particularly in scenarios where a return to pre-pandemic conditions occurs before the suppression of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In this work we model the situation in the United States at present, to demonstrate how the P.1 variant of SARS-CoV-2 can cause a rebound wave of COVID-19 in a matter of months, similar to what happened in Manaus at the beginning of this year. A high burden of morbidity (and likely mortality) remains possible, even if the vaccine is partially effective against new variants and widely accepted. Our modeling suggests that variants that are already present within the population may be capable of quickly defeating the vaccines as a public health intervention, a fatal flaw in strategies that emphasize rapid reopening before achieving control of SARS-CoV-2.
SARS-CoV-2 transmission in K-12 schools in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region: a descriptive epidemiologic study
Authors: Bark Diana , Dhillon Nalin , St-Jean Martin , Kinniburgh Brooke , McKee Geoff , Choi Alexandra 
Published: May 2021

AbstractBackgroundThere is an urgent need to assess the role of schools in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Canada to inform public health measures. We describe the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in students and staff in the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) region in the first three months of the 2020/2021 academic year, and examine the extent of transmission in schools.MethodsThis descriptive epidemiologic study using contact tracing data included all SARS-CoV-2 cases reported to VCH between September 10 and December 18, 2020 who worked in or attended K-12 schools in-person. Case and cluster characteristics were described.ResultsThere were 699 school staff and student cases during the study period, for an incidence of 55 cases per 10,000 population, compared to 73 per 10,000 population in all VCH residents. Among VCH resident staff and student cases, 53% were linked to a household case/cluster, <1.5% were hospitalized and there were no deaths. Out of 699 cases present at school, 26 clusters with school-based transmission resulted in 55 secondary cases. Staff members accounted for 54% of index cases (14/26) while comprising 14% of the school population. Among clusters, 88% had fewer than 4 secondary cases.InterpretationCOVID-19 incidence in the school population was lower than that of the general population. There were no deaths and severe disease was rare. School-based transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 were uncommon and clusters were small. Our results support the growing body of evidence that schools do not play a major role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
SPEEDS: A Portable Serological Testing Platform for Rapid Electrochemical Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies
Authors: Peng Ran , Pan Yueyue , Li Zhijie , Qin Zhen , Rini James M. , Liu Xinyu 
Published: May 2021

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a worldwide health crisis. Rapid diagnosis, new therapeutics and effective vaccines will all be required to stop the spread of COVID-19. Quantitative evaluation of serum antibody levels against the SARS-CoV-2 virus provides a means of monitoring a patient’s immune response to a natural viral infection or vaccination, as well as evidence of a prior infection. In this paper, a portable and low-cost electrochemical immunosensor is developed for the rapid and accurate quantification of SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies. The immunosensor is capable of quantifying the concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in human serum. For IgG and IgM, it provides measurements in the range of 10.1 ng/mL − 60 µg/mL and 1.64 ng/mL − 50 µg/mL, respectively, and both antibodies can be assayed in 13 min. We also developed device stabilization and storage strategies to achieve stable performance of the immunosensor within 24-week storage at room temperature. We evaluated the performance of the immunosensor using COVID-19 patient serum samples collected at different time points after symptom onset. The rapid and sensitive detection of IgG and IgM provided by our immunosensor fulfills the need of rapid COVID-19 serology testing for both point-of-care diagnosis and population immunity screening.
Predisposing factors associated with the severity of the illness in adults with Covid-19 in Nepal
Authors: Jha Roshan Kumar , Shrestha Anil , Tamang Basant , K.C. Indu , Sah Shiv Kumar 
Published: May 2021

AbstractObjectiveWe aimed to determine the prevalence of the severity of COVID-19 illness and its associated predisposing factors in Nepal.DesignCross-sectional, observational studySettingSingle-centered hospital-based study, conducted at Nepal armed police force (APF) hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.ParticipantsAll individuals aged ≥18 years with laboratory-confirmed SARS-Cov-2 (the SARS-CoV-2 specific real-time-RT-PCR result positive), regardless the severity of their disease.MeasurementsDisease severity was evaluated as a primary outcome and age, sex, BMI, smoking history, alcohol history, Hypertension, diabetes mellitus were evaluated as predictors in the analysis.ResultsMean ages of the patients were 40.79±16.04 years, and about two-thirds of the patients were male 146 (73.7%). More than half 57.1% (95%CI: 52.42-61.51) of the population had a mild infection, whereas 16.7% (95%CI: 7.4-24.6%) had severe/critical illness. In univariate analysis, each 1-year increase in age (OR: 1.05; 95% CI:1.030-1.081; P<0.001), each 1 unit increase in BMI (OR:1.12; 95% CI:1.02-1.25; P=0.033), comorbid illness (OR: 5.79; 95%CI: 2.51-13.33; P<0.001), hypertension (OR:5.95; 95%CI:2.66-13.30: P<0.001), diabetes mellitus (OR:3.26; 95%CI:1.30-8.15: P<0.005), and fever (OR:34.64; 95% CI:7.98-150.38; P<0.001) were independently associated with severity of the disease, whereas age (OR: 1.049; 95% CI: 1.019-1.080; P=0.02), hypertension (OR: 4.77; 95%CI: 1.62-14.04; P=0.004), and fever (OR: 51.02; 95%CI: 9.56-272.51; P<0.001) remained a significant predictive factors in multivariate analysis.ConclusionThe majority of the patients with COVID-19 had a mild illness, with 16.7% severe illness. Age, BMI, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, comorbidity, and temperature were associated the severity of the illness. Age, hypertension, and fever emerged as an independent predictive factors in multivariate analysis, and thus, these vulnerable groups should be given special protection to the infection and proactive intervention should be initiated at an early stage of the infection to diminish the severity of the illness and improve the clinical outcome of the disease.Strengths and limitations of the studyMuch of the studies on COVID-19 in Nepal focus on the describing epidemiology and clinical profile of the disease, however, risk factors that contribute to the severity of the illness are overlooked.This study may help estimate the burden of the disease and identify the vulnerable group with poor prognosis, which is vital for clinicians and the public health approach to deal with the disease.Although limiting the study to a single-center with a relatively small sample size, it, however, allows evaluation of the importance of the demographic and geographical variation.Socio-economic factors, lifestyle, and availability of quality medical care may have contributed to the severity of the COVID-19, which needs to be addressed in a further large-scale study.
Indian Interventional trials for COVID-19 drugs: Insights and Learnings
Authors: Ranade Arati , Wani Kirtee , Premnath V. , Lele Chitra , Kale Smita 
Published: May 2021

AbstractSince the COVID-19 pandemic began, India has substantially contributed to drug development and clinical research. Task Force on Repurposing of Drugs (TFORD) for COVID19 has tried to look at the overall position of India in terms of interventional clinical trials and highlight learnings which can prepare us to fight future pandemics in a better way. Trials registered on CTRI from March 2020 to December 2020 were considered for this purpose. From a total 409 trials registered, 108 focused on modern drugs. From 108 trials studied, 92 were randomized trials, 34 trials were sponsored by Indian Pharmaceutical industry, 23 were self-sponsored and 20 were sponsored by Research institutes and hospitals. Only 83 trials studied the repurposed drugs. An unfortunate revelation was that out of 108 trials, 79 showed as not yet recruiting. This highlights the urgent need for Government, Research institutions and Indian Pharmaceutical industries to break down silos and work together towards this common cause.
Genomic inference of a human super bottleneck in Mid-Pleistocene transition
Authors: Hu Wangjie , Hao Ziqian , Du Pengyuan , Di Vincenzo Fabio , Manzi Giorgio , Pan Yi-Hsuan , Li Haipeng 
Published: May 2021

SUMMARYThe demographic history is a foundation of human evolutionary studies. However, the ancient demographic history during the Mid-Pleistocene is poorly investigated while it is essential for understanding the early origin of humankind. Here we present the fast infinitesimal time coalescent (FitCoal) process, which allows the analytical calculation of the composite likelihood of a site frequency spectrum and provides the precise inference of demographic history. We apply it to analyze 3,154 present-day human genomic sequences. We find that African populations have passed through a population super bottleneck, a small effective size of approximately 1,280 breeding individuals between 930 and 813 thousand years ago. Further analyses confirm the existence of the super bottleneck on non-African populations although it cannot be directly inferred. This observation, together with simulation results, indicates that confounding factors, such as population structure and selection, are unlikely to affect the inference of the super bottleneck. The time interval of the super bottleneck coincides with a gap in the human fossil record in Africa and possibly marks the origin ofHomo heidelbergensis. Our results provide new insights into human evolution during the Mid-Pleistocene.
Broad neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 variants induced by a modified B.1.351 protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate
Authors: Su Danmei , Li Xinglin , He Cui , Huang Xueqing , Chen Meilin , Wang Qiang , Qin Wenchang , Liang Ying , Xu Rong , Wu Jinhua , Luo Peiwen , Yang Xiaofang , Zeng Yilan , Luo Mei , Luo Dongxia , Salisbury David M , Ambrosino Donna , Siber George , Clemens Ralf , Liang Peng , Liang Joshua G. 
Published: May 2021

AbstractBeginning in late 2020, the emergence and spread of multiple variant SARS-CoV-2 strains harboring mutations which may enable immune escape necessitates the rapid evaluation of second generation COVID-19 vaccines, with the goal of inducing optimized immune responses that are broadly protective. Here we demonstrate in a mouse immunogenicity study that two doses of a modified B.1.351 spike (S)-Trimer vaccine (B.1.351 S-Trimer) candidate can induce strong humoral immune responses that can broadly neutralize both the original SARS-CoV-2 strain (Wuhan-Hu-1) and Variants of Concern (VOCs), including the UK variant (B.1.1.7), South African variant (B.1.351) and Brazil variant (P.1). Furthermore, while immunization with two doses (prime-boost) of Prototype S-Trimer vaccine (based on the original SARS-CoV-2 strain) induced lower levels of cross-reactive neutralization against the B.1.351 variant, a third dose (booster) administered with either Prototype S-Trimer or B.1.351 S-Trimer was able to increase neutralizing antibody titers against B.1.351 to levels comparable to neutralizing antibody titers against the original strain elicited by two doses of Prototype S-Trimer.
Serial interval of COVID-19 and the effect of Variant B.1.1.7: analyses from a prospective community cohort study (Virus Watch)
Authors: Geismar Cyril , Fragaszy Ellen , Nguyen Vincent , Fong Wing Lam Erica , Shrotri Madhumita , Beale Sarah , Rogers Alison , Lampos Vasileios , Byrne Thomas , Kovar Jana , Navaratnam Annalan M D , Patel Parth , Aldridge Robert W , Hayward Andrew 
Published: May 2021

AbstractIntroductionIncreased transmissibility of B.1.17 variant of concern (VOC) in the UK may explain its rapid emergence and global spread. We analysed data from putative household infector - infectee pairs in the Virus Watch Community cohort study to assess the serial interval of COVID-19 and whether this was affected by emergence of the B.1.17 variant.MethodsThe Virus Watch study is an online, prospective, community cohort study following up entire households in England and Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Putative household infector-infectee pairs were identified where more than one person in the household had a positive swab matched to an illness episode. Data on whether individual infections were caused by the B.1.1.7 variant were not available. We therefore developed a classification system based on the percentage of cases estimated to be due to B.1.17 in national surveillance data for different English regions and study weeks.ResultsOut of 24,887 illnesses reported, 915 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 186 likely infector-infectee pairs in 186 households amongst 372 individuals were identified. The mean COVID-19 serial interval was 3.18 (95%CI: 2.55 - 3.81) days. There was no significant difference (p=0.267) between the mean serial interval for Variants of Concern (VOC) hotspots (mean = 3.64 days, (95%CI: 2.55 – 4.73)) days and non-VOC hotspots, (mean = 2.72 days, (95%CI: 1.48 – 3.96)).ConclusionsOur estimates of the average serial interval of COVID-19 are broadly similar to estimates from previous studies and we find no evidence that B.1.1.7 is associated with a change in serial intervals. Alternative explanations such as increased viral load, longer period of viral shedding or improved receptor binding may instead explain the increased transmissibility and rapid spread and should undergo further investigation.