BACKGROUND: Sleep habits and burnout have been shown to be associated with increase in infectious diseases, but it is unknown if these factors are associated with risk of COVID-19. We assessed whether sleep and self-reported burnout may be risk factors for COVID-19 among high-risk healthcare workers (HCWs). METHODS: From 17 July to 25 September 2020, a web-based survey was administered to HCWs in six countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, USA) with a high frequency of workplace exposure. Participants provided information on demographics, sleep (number of sleep hours at night, daytime napping hours, sleep problems), burnout from work and COVID-19 exposures. We used multivariable linear and logistic regression models to evaluate the associations between sleep, burnout and COVID-19. RESULTS: Among 2884 exposed HCWs, there were 568 COVID-19 cases and 2316 controls. After adjusting for confounders, 1-hour longer sleep duration at night was associated with 12% lower odds of COVID-19 (p=0.003). Daytime napping hours was associated with 6% higher odds, but the association varied by countries, with a non-significant inverse association in Spain. Compared with having no sleep problems, having three sleep problems was associated with 88% greater odds of COVID-19. Reporting burnout every day was associated with greater odds of COVID-19 (OR: 2.60, 95% CI 1.57 to 4.31, p trend across categories=0.001), longer duration (OR: 2.98, 95% CI 1.10 to 8.05, p trend=0.02) and severity (OR: 3.26, 95% CI 1.25 to 8.48, p trend=0.02) compared with reporting no burnout. These associations remained significant after adjusting for frequency of COVID-19 exposures. CONCLUSIONS: In six countries, longer sleep duration was associated with lower odds of COVID-19, but the association with daytime nap may not be consistent across countries. Greater sleep problems and high level of burnout were robustly associated with greater odds of COVID-19. Sleep and burnout may be risk factors for COVID-19 in high-risk HCWs.

The rise of social media and the explosion of digital news in the web sphere have created new challenges to extract knowledge and make sense of published information. Automated timeline generation appears in this context as a promising answer to help users dealing with this information overload problem. Formally, Timeline Summarization (TLS) can be defined as a subtask of Multi-Document Summarization (MDS) conceived to highlight the most important information during the development of a story over time by summarizing long-lasting events in a timely ordered fashion. As opposed to traditional MDS, TLS has a limited number of publicly available datasets. In this paper, we propose TLS-Covid19 dataset, a novel corpus for the Portuguese and English languages. Our aim is to provide a new, larger and multi-lingual TLS annotated dataset that could foster timeline summarization evaluation research and, at the same time, enable the study of news coverage about the COVID-19 pandemic. TLS-Covid19 consists of 178 curated topics related to the COVID-19 outbreak, with associated news articles covering almost the entire year of 2020 and their respective reference timelines as gold-standard. As a final outcome, we conduct an experimental study on the proposed dataset over two extreme baseline methods. All the resources are publicly available at https://github.com/LIAAD/tls-covid19. ? 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The Black Lives Matter protests, the racial inequality laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the January 6, 2021 attack on the U S Capitol prompted several organizations and academic institutions to write statements in support of the Movement for Black Lives and to re-evaluate their dedication to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Using auto-ethnographical analysis, I address the inadequacy of such liberal initiatives to effectively challenge racial barriers to the promotion and retention of faculty of color, especially women of color In fact, I argue that such initiatives could present further challenges for women of color, who are only included superficially and in ways that create more invisible, unrecognized labor I propose that the language of DEI efforts must more centrally name racism at the same time that they address intersectionality through what I call racism-centered intersectional approaches These approaches are particularly needed given the history of attacks on ethnic studies and critical race theory

Influenza viruses replicate their single-stranded RNA genomes in the nucleus of infected cells and these replicated genomes (vRNPs) are then exported from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and plasma membrane before budding. To achieve this export, influenza viruses hijack the host cell export machinery. However, the complete mechanisms underlying this hijacking remain not fully understood. We have previously shown that influenza viruses induce a marked alteration of the nucleus during the time-course of infection and notably in the nucleolar compartment. In this study, we discovered that a major nucleolar component, called nucleolin, is required for an efficient export of vRNPs and viral replication. We have notably shown that nucleolin interacts with the viral nucleoprotein (NP) that mainly constitutes vRNPs. Our results suggest that this interaction could allow vRNPs to catch the host cell export machinery, a necessary step for viral replication.

The development of a portfolio of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines to vaccinate the global population remains an urgent public health imperative. Here, we demonstrate the capacity of a subunit vaccine under clinical development, comprising the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein receptor binding domain displayed on a two-component protein nanoparticle (RBD-NP), to stimulate robust and durable neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses and protection against SARS-CoV-2 in non-human primates. We evaluated five different adjuvants combined with RBD-NP including Essai O/W 1849101, a squalene-in-water emulsion; AS03, an alpha-tocopherol-containing squalene-based oil-in-water emulsion used in pandemic influenza vaccines; AS37, a TLR-7 agonist adsorbed to Alum; CpG 1018-Alum (CpG-Alum), a TLR-9 agonist formulated in Alum; or Alum, the most widely used adjuvant. All five adjuvants induced substantial nAb and CD4 T cell responses after two consecutive immunizations. Durable nAb responses were evaluated for RBD-NP/AS03 immunization and the live-virus nAb response was durably maintained up to 154 days post-vaccination. AS03, CpG-Alum, AS37 and Alum groups conferred significant protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pharynges, nares and in the bronchoalveolar lavage. The nAb titers were highly correlated with protection against infection. Furthermore, RBD-NP when used in conjunction with AS03 was as potent as the prefusion stabilized Spike immunogen, HexaPro. Taken together, these data highlight the efficacy of the RBD-NP formulated with clinically relevant adjuvants in promoting robust immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in non-human primates.

Background While pulmonary embolism (PE) appears to be a major issue in Covid-19, data remain sparse. Purpose We aimed to describe the risk factors and baseline characteristics of patients with PE in a large cohort of Covid-19 patients. Methods In a retrospective multicentric observational study, we included consecutive hospitalised patients for Covid-19. Patients without computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA)-proven PE diagnosis, those who were directly admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), and those still hospitalised without PE experience were excluded. Results Among 1240 patients (58.1% men, mean age 6417 years), 103 (8.3%) patients had PE confirmed by CTPA. The ICU transfer requirement and mechanical ventilation requirement were significantly higher in the PE group (P <0.001 and P <0.001, respectively). In an univariable analysis, traditional venous thromboembolic risk factors were not associated with PE (P >0.05), while patients under therapeutic-dose anticoagulation before hospitalisation or prophylaxis-dose anticoagulation introduced during hospitalisation had lower PE occurrence (OR 0.40, 95%CI(0.14-0.91); P = 0.04 and OR 0.11, 95%CI(0.06-0.18); P <0.001, respectively). In a multivariable analysis, the following variables (also statistically significant in univariable analysis) were associated with PE: male gender (OR 1.03, 95%CI(1.003-1.069); P = 0.04), anticoagulation with prophylaxis-dose (OR 0.83, 95%CI(0.79-0.85), P <0.001) or therapeutic-dose (OR 0.87, 95%CI(0.82-0.92), P <0.001), C-reactive protein (OR 1.03, 95%CI(1.01-1.04), P = 0.001) and time from symptom onset to hospitalisation (OR 1.02, 95%CI(1.006-1.038), P = 0.002) (Table 1). Conclusion Pulmonary embolism risk factors in Covid-19 context do not include traditional thromboembolic risk factors but rather independent clinical and biological findings at admission, including a major contribution to inflammation.

The spread of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, discovered in China in January 2020, led to a pandemic as early as March 2020, forcing every health care system in the affected countries to adapt quickly In order to better address this major health crisis, which has given rise to numerous scientific publications, we have synthesized the main original clinical studies to facilitate the day-to-day management of patients with COVID-19 We detail the early signs and progression of the disease as well as the different clinical forms, including extra-pulmonary, as known at the beginning of this pandemic We focus on clinical, biological and CT markers predictive of severity or mortality Finally, we discuss the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in populations suspected to be at high risk of severe forms

As a worldwide pandemic, the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has caused serious restrictions in people's social life, along with the loss of lives, the collapse of economies and the disruption of humanitarian aids. Despite the advance of technological developments, we, as researchers, have witnessed that several issues need further investigation for a better response to a pandemic outbreak. With this motivation, researchers recently started developing ideas to stop or at least reduce the spread of the pandemic. While there have been some prior works on wireless networks for combating a pandemic scenario, vehicular networks and their potential bottlenecks have not yet been fully examined. This article provides an extensive discussion on vehicular networking for combating a pandemic. We provide the major applications of vehicular networking for combating COVID-19 in public transportation, in-vehicle diagnosis, border patrol and social distance monitoring. Next, we identify the unique characteristics of the collected data in terms of privacy, flexibility and coverage, then highlight corresponding future directions in privacy preservation, resource allocation, data caching and data routing. We believe that this work paves the way for the development of new products and algorithms that can facilitate the social life and help controlling the spread of the pandemic.

In this article, we investigate the effect of local financial development on cash holdings of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Consistent with the hypothesis that local financial development reduces the need to hold precautionary cash because it facilitates access to bank debt, we find that local financial development measured by the density of bank branches in Italian provinces has a negative effect on corporate cash holdings This effect is driven by SMEs with bank debt Furthermore, the negative effect of local financial development on cash holdings only exists for younger and smaller SMEs, which are more likely to benefit from increased local financial development Our work highlights that local financial development is an important driver of policies on holding cash by SMEs and is particularly relevant during crisis periods, such as the recent COVID-19 crisis

Purpose Preventive measures to curtail the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)?such as home quarantine, closure of schools/programs?are necessary, yet the impact of these restrictions on children?s weight status is unknown The purpose of this case report was to investigate changes in children?s body mass index (BMI) and zBMI during COVID-19 quarantine Methods Children had their heights and weights recorded early March 2020 (pre-COVID-19) and 5 months later (early August 2020) Paired sample t tests examined changes in BMI and zBMI from baseline to follow-up Results Twenty-nine children (62% female;mean age 9 3 years;27 5% with overweight or obesity) provided height and weight data at both time points There was a significant difference in pre-COVID-19 BMI (mean [M] = 20 1, standard deviation [SD] = 6 0) and follow-up BMI (M = 20 7, SD = 6 4);t(57) = ?3 8, P &lt; 001, and pre-COVID-19 zBMI (M = 0 8, SD = 0 9) and follow-up zBMI (M = 0 9, SD = 0 9);t(57) = -3 1, P = 003 Five of the 29 children moved from normal weight to overweight (n = 4) or obese (n = 1) during 5 months of quarantine Conclusions Preliminary evidence shows most children increased their BMI and zBMI values from pre-COVID-19 assessment to the follow-up assessment, 5 months later These initial findings identify potential incidental negative health consequences of children as a result of COVID-19 preventative measures such as home quarantine

Objective: To evaluate the available COVID-19 content in regard to fertility care on the social media (SM) platforms from Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) member clinics Design: Cross-sectional study Materials and Methods: From March 17-30/2020, following the release of the first American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) COVID-19 recommendations, SART member clinics SM platforms including Facebook and Twitter were examined The presence of information on COVID-19, its pregnancy implications, acknowledgement of and compliance with ASRM recommendations, mention of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) risk mitigation strategies and local health department guidelines, as well as advertisement for telehealth and availability of mental health resources were queried Websites were categorized by practice size (&lt;500 vs 500 cycles/year), type (academic vs private) and degree of statewide COVID-19 burden based on CDC surveillance data (low: 0-1000;high: 1000 diagnosed cases) Group differences were evaluated using 2 Results: SM accounts were available from 84% (315/375) of SART member clinics and were more common among private compared to academic clinics [96% (274/286) vs 46% (41/89), respectively, P&lt;0 05] No difference was found in the presence of COVID-19 posts when comparing private and academic clinics [80% (220/274) vs 78% (32/41), respectively, P=0 68] Private clinics were more likely to post individualized recommendations rather than ASRM recommendations, and to advertise the use of telehealth [34% (93/274) vs 7% (3/41) and 64% (174/274) vs 46% (19/41), respectively, P&lt;0 05, all values] There was no difference in the advertisement of mental health resources on SM [31% (86/274) vs 44% (18/41), respectively, P=0 15] Larger compared to smaller clinics were more likely to provide information on COVID-19, its pregnancy implications, and to acknowledge ASRM recommendations, CDC risk mitigation strategies and local health department guidelines on SM [86% (112/130) vs 76% (140/185);49% (64/130) vs 34% (62/185);49% (64/130) vs 34% (62/185);59% (77/130) vs 42% (77/185) and 33% (43/130) vs 22% (40/185), respectively, P&lt;0 05, all values] Larger clinics were also more likely to advertise telehealth and mental health resources on SM [71% (92/130) vs 55% (101/185) and 42% (54/130) vs 27% (50/185), respectively, P&lt;0 05, all values] Clinics in high COVID-19 burden states were less likely to follow ASRM recommendations compared to clinics in low burden states [36% (56/154) vs 50% (80/161), respectively, P&lt;0 05] Conclusions: Use of SM accounts for dissemination of COVID-19 related information was common among SART member clinics with SM presence However, academic clinics were less likely to have any, and when they did, less likely to offer telehealth, possibly hindering care for their patients Conversely, larger clinics were more likely to provide pertinent information and advertise telehealth and mental health resources Private, smaller and high COVID-19 burden clinics were less likely to report compliance with ASRM recommendations

Palate Poetry, Kitchen Truths: Coming Home to Cooking is a long essay comprising non-didactic philosophical reflections on the wisdom of home cooking attained over the first three months spent in Covid-19 lockdown I make a case for home cooking and home eating as an experiential strategy that can, mutatis mutandis, alert us to ontologies and knowledge systems that resist the seeming inexorability of neoliberal, millennial urbanised living I do so without holding forth any normative rejection of technology and other exigencies of modern living;and gesture instead towards an inclusive paradigm where machines can be applied towards a promotion of food making and food sharing that is ethical, cosmopolitan, community-minded, ecologically aware, and yet forward-looking The auto-ethnographic methodology covers both the analytical prose and the interspersed poems it provides a discursive matrix for I found myself planting these poems (and accompanying images of food from my kitchen) at strategic moments in the argumentation so as to allow the reader, experimentally, a detour and respite from the critical density of the prose I suppose I am experimenting with the possibility of treating of the same subject in different mediums and then gathering them back into the fold of the personal, reflective essay ? AesthetixMS 2020

Infectious diseases are now emerging or reemerging almost every year. This trend will continue because a number of factors, including the increased global population, aging, travel, urbanization, and climate change, favor the emergence, evolution, and spread of new pathogens. The approach used so far for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) does not work from the technical point of view, and it is not sustainable. However, the advent of platform technologies offers vaccine manufacturers an opportunity to develop new vaccines faster and to reduce the investment to build manufacturing facilities, in addition to allowing for the possible streamlining of regulatory processes. The new technologies also make possible the rapid development of human monoclonal antibodies that could become a potent immediate response to an emergency. So far, several proposals to approach EIDs have been made independently by scientists, the private sector, national governments, and international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). While each of them has merit, there is a need for a global governance that is capable of taking a strong leadership role and making it attractive to all partners to come to the same table and to coordinate the global approach.

Older adults in the United States have lower rates of mental health care utilization than young adults. To understand these lower rates of mental health care, we performed a systematic review, in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, of barriers that prevent older adults from seeking and accessing treatment. We searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and Clinical Key to identify studies of barriers to mental health treatment in the older adult population (in individuals 50 y of age and older). Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria (English language and focused on barriers to care in older adults) and exclusion criteria (focus on non-United States populations, focus on younger adults, or no focus on barriers to care). We identified 5 categories of barriers to mental health care in older adults: (1) attitudes and knowledge among older adults; (2) comorbid medical conditions; (3) provider-related factors; (4) other extrinsic barriers (eg, cost, transportation, reliance on caregivers); and (5) unique factors that affect older adults in minority populations. Large studies have primarily identified intrinsic barriers, including negative attitudes toward mental health care and lack of perceived need for treatment, as preventing older adults from seeking mental health care. Minority populations have also been found to face cultural barriers and increased levels of stigma compared with non-Hispanic whites, although several of the identified articles concerning barriers among minority older adults involved qualitative studies with small samples. Larger quantitative studies may help clarify the relative importance of barriers affecting this population. Interventions that have been shown to increase access to mental health services for older adults include community-based care and integrated primary and psychiatric care, but these strategies can be difficult to implement in low-resource settings. More research is needed to determine which interventions and policies are most effective in targeting particular barriers.

The Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) pandemic is rapidly spreading across the world, representing an unparalleled challenge for health care systems. There are differences in the estimated fatality rates, which cannot be explained easily. In Italy, the estimated case fatality rate was 12.7% in mid-April, while Germany remained at 1.8%. Moreover, it is to be noted that different areas of Italy have very different lethality rates. Due to the complexity of Covid-19 patient management, it is of paramount importance to develop a well-defined clinical workflow in order to avoid the inconsistent management of patients. The Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) represents a multidisciplinary outline of anticipated care to support patient management in the Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome. The main objective of this pilot study was to develop a new ICP evaluated by care indicators, in order to improve the COVID-19 patient management. The suggested ICP was developed by a multi-professional team composed of different specialists and administrators already involved in clinical and management processes. After a review of current internal practices and published evidences, we identified (1) the activities performed during care delivery, (2) the responsibilities for these activities, (3) hospital structural adaptation needs and potential improvements, and (4) ICP indicators. The process map formed the basis of the final ICP document; 160 COVID-19 inpatients were considered, and the effect of the ICP implementation was evaluated over time during the exponential phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, a rapid adoption of ICP and regular audits of quality indicators for the management of COVID-19 patients might be important tools to improve the quality of care and outcomes.

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the challenges of education that arose among learners of second chance schools, Greek inmates during the pandemic. Offenders lost their right to equal access to education because they could not even use a specialized digital interconnection facility with the eLearning Platform. Through open-source software, a specially encrypted platform has been created that enables distance learning while preventing access to any other part of the internet other than the learning process. The review's findings highlight the potential of educating and training socially excluded persons, such as inmates. Inmates at alternative schools can reclaim their inherent right to information and lifelong learning via the innovative, secure platform implemented. This study is unique in that it proposes a solution for educational access. The suggested Encrypted Distance Learning Platform can restore the human right lost in Greece during the pandemic, without the need to recruit people, while complying with safe protective measures (i.e., usage of a mask due to Covid-19).

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected world economies. In this regard, it is expected that information level and sharing between equity, digital currency, and energy markets has been altered due to the pandemic outbreak. Specifically, the resulting twisted risk among markets is presumed to rise during the abnormal state of world economy. The purpose of the current study is twofold. First, by using Renyi entropy, we analyze the multiscale entropy function in the return time series of Bitcoin, S&P500, WTI, Brent, Gas, Gold, Silver, and investor fear index represented by VIX. Second, by estimating mutual information, we analyze the information sharing between these markets. The analyses are conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical results from Renyi entropy indicate that for all market indices, randomness and disorder are more concentrated in less probable events. The empirical results from mutual information showed that the information sharing network between markets has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a managerial perspective, we conclude that during the pandemic (i) portfolios composed of Bitcoin and Silver, Bitcoin and WTI, Bitcoin and Gold, Bitcoin and Brent, or Bitcoin and S&P500 could be risky, (ii) diversification opportunities exist by investing in portfolios composed of Gas and Silver, Gold and Silver, Gold and Gas, Brent and Silver, Brent and Gold, or Bitcoin and Gas, and that (iii) the VIX exhibited the lowest level of information disorder at all scales before and during the pandemic. Thus, it seems that the pandemic has not influenced the expectations of investors. Our results provide an insight of the response of stocks, cryptocurrencies, energy, precious metal markets, to expectations of investors in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of information ordering and sharing.

Porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC), a common piglet disease, causes substantive economic losses in pig farming. To investigate the viral diversity associated with PRDC, the viral communities in serum and nasal swabs from 26 PRDC-affected piglets were investigated using metagenomics. By deep sequencing and de novo assembly, 17 viruses were identified in two pooled libraries (16 viruses from serum, nine from nasal swabs). Porcine circovirus (PCV)-2, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and pseudorabies virus, all commonly associated with PRDC, were identified in the two pooled samples by metagenomics, but most viruses comprised small linear and circular DNAs (e.g. parvoviruses, bocaviruses and circoviruses). PCR was used to compare the detection rates of each virus in the serum samples from 36 PRDC-affected piglets versus 38 location-matched clinically healthy controls. The average virus category per sample was 6.81 for the PRDC-affected piglets and 4.09 for the controls. Single or co-infections with PCV-2 or PRRSV had very high detection rates in the PRDC-affected piglets. Interestingly, porcine parvovirus (PPV)-2, PPV-3, PPV-6 and torque teno sus virus 1a were significantly associated with PRDC. These results illustrate the complexity of viral communities in the PRDC-affected piglets and highlight the candidate viruses associated with it.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has fundamentally changed the way we live and work forever. The business sector is forecasting and formulating different scenarios associated with the impact of the pandemic on its employees, customers, and suppliers. Various business retrieval models are under construction to cope with life after the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis. However, the proposed plans and scenarios are static and cannot address the dynamic pandemic changes worldwide. They also have not considered the peripheral in-between scenarios to propel the shifting paradigm of businesses from the existing condition to the new one. Furthermore, the scenario drivers in the current studies are generally centered on the economic aspects of the pandemic with little attention to the social facets. This study aims to fill this gap by proposing scenario planning and analytics to study the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on large-scale information technology-led Companies. The primary and peripheral scenarios are constructed based on a balanced set of business continuity and employee health drivers. Practical action plans are formulated for each scenario to devise plausible responses. Finally, a damage management framework is developed to cope with the mental disorders of the employees amid the disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors associated with prevention practices against COVID-19 in the Peruvian population according to rural vs. urban locations. METHODS: Analytical cross-sectional study, secondary analysis based on a previously collected database. A sample of individuals over 18 years of age, residing in Peru and with no history of COVID-19was evaluated. Factors associated with prevention practices were evaluated using Poisson regressions with variance adjustment by region cluster and stratified by rurality. RESULTS: Of 3231 participants included, 2741 (84.8%) were from urban areas and 490 (15.2%) from rural areas. The frequency of good prevention practices against COVID-19 was 27.8% in our total sample. In urban areas the frequency of good prevention practices was 28.8% and in rural areas it was 22.5%. Factors associated with prevention practices against COVID-19 in both urban and rural areas were male sex (urban: aPR 0.64, 95%CI 0.55C0.75; rural: aPR 0.66, 95%CI 0.54C0.80) and self-considering adequately carrying out prevention practices (urban: aPR 2.48, 95%CI 2.13C2.89; rural: aPR 2.70, 95%CI 2.27C3.19). CONCLUSION: The frequency of good prevention practices against COVID-19 was less than 30% in both urban and rural areas. There are differences in the factors associated with good preventive practice against COVID-19. Only sex and considering that preventive measures were adequately carried out were associated with good prevention practices in both areas. In view of this, prevention measures should be promoted taking into account cultural principles and considering geographical location in the face of present and future outbreaks or pandemics.