Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019 resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been shown that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein shares a high similarity with SARS-CoV spike protein with a strong binding affinity to human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Skin tissue may be a possible specific target for the SARS-CoV-2. Preliminary reports from the COVID-19 infection have shown cutaneous manifestation, including erythematous rash, widespread urticaria, and chickenpox-like vesicles. Moreover, many studies have shown the role of ACE in the development, severity, and complications of psoriasis. Herein, we discuss a possible shared mechanism of psoriasis with SARS-CoV-2; also, we propose a therapeutic approach to balance the effect of ACE activity in these patients.

Much of our understanding of GHs action stems from animal models and the generation and characterization of genetically altered or modified mice. Manipulation of genes in the GH/IGF1 family in animals started in 1982 when the first GH transgenic mice were produced. Since then, multiple laboratories have altered mouse DNA to globally disrupt Gh, Ghr, and other genes upstream or downstream of GH or its receptor. The ability to stay current with the various genetically manipulated mouse lines within the realm of GH/IGF1 research has been daunting. As such, this review attempts to consolidate and summarize the literature related to the initial characterization of many of the known gene-manipulated mice relating to the actions of GH, PRL and IGF1. We have organized the mouse lines by modifications made to constituents of the GH/IGF1 family either upstream or downstream of GHR or to the GHR itself. Available data on the effect of altered gene expression on growth, GH/IGF1 levels, body composition, reproduction, diabetes, metabolism, cancer, and aging are summarized. For the ease of finding this information, key words are highlighted in bold throughout the main text for each mouse line and this information is summarized in Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4. Most importantly, the collective data derived from and reported for these mice have enhanced our understanding of GH action.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health crisis. Numerous cancer patients from non-Western countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), seek cancer care outside their home countries and many are sponsored by their governments for treatment. Many patients interrupted their cancer treatment abruptly and so returned to their home countries with unique challenges. In this review we will discuss practical challenges and recommendations for all cancer patients returning to their home countries from treatment abroad. METHOD: Experts from medical, surgical and other cancer subspecialties in the UAE were invited to form a taskforce to address challenges and propose recommendations for patients returning home from abroad after medical tourism during the SARS-COV-19 Pandemic. RESULTS: The taskforce which consisted of experts from medical oncology, hematology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, radiology and palliative care summarized the current challenges and suggested a practical approaches to address these specific challenges to improve the returning cancer patients care. Lack of medical documentation, pathology specimens and radiology images are one of the major limitations on the continuation of the cancer care for returning patients. Difference in approaches and treatment recommendations between the existing treating oncologists abroad and receiving oncologists in the UAE regarding the optimal management which can be addressed by early and empathic communications with patients and by engaging the previous treating oncologists in treatment planning based on the available resources and expertise in the UAE. Interruption of curative radiotherapy (RT) schedules which can potentially increase risk of treatment failure has been a major challenge, RT dose-compensation calculation should be considered in these circumstances. CONCLUSION: The importance of a thorough clinical handover cannot be overstated and regulatory bodies are needed to prevent what can be considered unethical procedure towards returning cancer patients with lack of an effective handover. Clear communication is paramount to gain the trust of returning patients and their families. This pandemic may also serve as an opportunity to encourage patients to receive treatment locally in their home country. Future studies will be needed to address the steps to retain cancer patients in the UAE rather than seeking cancer treatment abroad.

MOTIVATION: In the age of big data, the amount of scientific information available online dwarfs the ability of current tools to support researchers in locating and securing access to the necessary materials. Well-structured open data and the smart systems that make the appropriate use of it are invaluable and can help health researchers and professionals to find the appropriate information by, e.g., configuring the monitoring of information or refining a specific query on a disease. METHODS: We present an automated text classifier approach based on the MEDLINE/MeSH thesaurus, trained on the manual annotation of more than 26 million expert-annotated scientific abstracts. The classifier was developed tailor-fit to the public health and health research domain experts, in the light of their specific challenges and needs. We have applied the proposed methodology on three specific health domains: the Coronavirus, Mental Health and Diabetes, considering the pertinence of the first, and the known relations with the other two health topics. RESULTS: A classifier is trained on the MEDLINE dataset that can automatically annotate text, such as scientific articles, news articles or medical reports with relevant concepts from the MeSH thesaurus. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed text classifier shows promising results in the evaluation of health-related news. The application of the developed classifier enables the exploration of news and extraction of health-related insights, based on the MeSH thesaurus, through a similar workflow as in the usage of PubMed, with which most health researchers are familiar.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Uncontrolled diabetes has been associated with poorer clinical outcomes in COVID-19. We aimed to evaluate and assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on management of diabetes and challenges faced by people with diabetes in India during and after the lockdown phase. METHODS: A cross-sectional study based on an online questionnaire survey was designed. The questions collected socio-demographic details, medical and social history, and impact of the pandemic on medical and social life from 1582 participants. Linear regression was employed to evaluate association of different parameters with the change in glycemic levels. RESULTS: The frequency of clinical visits during the COVID-19 pandemic were reduced in 87.28% of participants. 92.45% of participants were able to monitor their blood glucose levels (BGLs) in which 78.42% (49.35%, 20.91%, and 8.16%) participants experienced an increase in BGL (mild, moderate, and severe respectively). Only 47.41% of participants possessed the digital glucometer at home. 69.07% of participants reported a decrease in physical activity while 46.88% reported an increase in food intake. 80.06% of participants were able to buy all medicines and 29.80% were gone for virtual consultations while 87.81% reported that they didn't have access to healthcare services. Overall, 89.47% participants experienced disruption in therapy. A highly significant correlation (r = 0.89, p = 0.0145) was found between increasing age and reporting of higher BGLs. CONCLUSION: This study provides a firsthand evidence of major disruption in diabetes care activities during and after the lockdown phase in India and increased risk of poorer clinical outcomes, if infected by SARS-CoV-2.

The surgical toolbox is expanding, and newer products are being developed to improve results. Reducing blood loss so that bloodless surgery can be performed may help minimize morbidity and length of stay. As patients, hospital administrators, and government regulators desire less invasive procedures, the surgical technical challenge is increasing. More operations are being performed through minimally invasive incisions with laparoscopic, endoscopic, and robotic approaches. In this setting, tools that can reduce bleeding by causing blood to clot, sealing vessels, or gluing tissues are gaining an increasing importance. Thus, hemostats, sealants, and adhesives are becoming a more important element of surgical practice. This review is designed to facilitate the reader's basic knowledge of these tools so that informed choices are made for controlling bleeding in specific clinical situations. Such information is useful for all members of the operative team. The team includes surgeons, anesthesiologists, residents, and nurses as well as hematologists and other medical specialists who may be involved in the perioperative care of surgical patients. An understanding of these therapeutic options may also be helpful to the transfusion service. In some cases, these materials may be stored in the blood bank, and their appropriate use may reduce demand for other transfusion components. The product classification used in this review includes hemostats as represented by product categories that include mechanical agents, active agents, flowables, and fibrin sealants; sealants as represented by fibrin sealants and polyethylene glycol hydrogels; and adhesives as represented by cyanoacrylates and albumin cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. Only those agents approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and presently available (February 2008) for sale in the United States are discussed in this review.

The severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection is marked by elevated cytokines and chemokines levels like interleukin 6 (IL-6), interferon-gamma (IFN-), tumour necrosis factor (TNF), IL-2 and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 This hyperactive pro-inflammatory response identified as the Cytokine Storm (CS) complicates the disease leading to extensive damage of the host tissue, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which further result in multiple organ failures CS is very critical for the disease progression and is responsible for high death rate in an infected patient Accordingly, various therapeutic modalities are currently investigated for their effectiveness in subsiding the hyper-inflammatory syndrome either using immunomodulatory agents or anti-inflammatory therapies Phytochemical (herbal) compounds are demon-strated to possess anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial or antioxidants proper-ties Various signalling pathways and molecules exacerbating the inflammation state complicate the pathophysiology of COVID-19 Cucurbitacins are tetracyclic bioactive phytochemical compounds found in cucurbitaceous plants More than 100 species of cucurbitacins possess various pharmaco-logical properties, including anti-inflammatory Cucurbitacin E and R have shown to be down-regulated the expression of TNF alpha and IL-1beta Cucur-bitacin II B also alleviates the expression of TNF- as well as IFN- and IL-6 Cucurbitacin1 has the potential to reduce the oxidative stress-induced with the reactive oxygen species, and thus prevents cardiovascular damage Thus cucurbitacins may be pharmacologically manipulated to establish its clinical efficacy in minimizing the disease state and improvising the prognosis of the patients

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health behaviors of university students Thus, factors influencing students' health behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak should be examined Purpose: To our knowledge, little is known about stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors of university students in Thailand Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the relationships among socioeconomic factors, stress, and adversity quotient influencing university students' health behavior during the COVID-19 crisis Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional predictive study;it was included 416 undergraduate students >= 18 years of age at a university in Thailand We used descriptive statistics, chi-squared test, and stepwise multiple linear regression for data analysis Results: The results indicated that most participants were women (71 90%), and the highest proportion of students were enrolled in College of Politics and Governance (25 24%) Most of the students had a high stress level (M = 3 54, SD = 0 53), high adversity quotient (M = 3 77, SD = 0 63), and good health behavior (M = 3 06, SD = 0 53) Adversity quotient, stress, and current faculty/college were significant predictors of health behaviors of undergrad students (total variance: 37 2%) Conclusion: Total adversity quotient was the strongest predictor of health behavior, followed by stress and current faculty/colleges On the basis of our results, we suggested that faculty members, caretakers, and interdisciplinary care teams should consider adversity quotient and stress in developing activities to encourage and promote students' physical and mental health behaviors, particularly during the COVID-19

OBJECTIVE To perform variation and phylogenetics analysis on the SARS-CoV genome sequence (PUMC01) isolated in the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. METHODS The cDNA library of SARS-CoV (PUMC01 isolate) was constructed by means of random-priming strategy. Random selected plasmid was sequenced and the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-PUMC01 was assembled by conventional methods (The Genebank Accession No. of SARS-CoV-PUMC01 is AY350750). The variation and phylogenetics analysis were performed by comparing the PUMC01 sequence with other SARS-CoV isolates. RESULTS Ten variation sites were found by comparing PUMC01 isolate with Tor2 and Urbani isolates. In phylogenetic analysis of 18 SARS-CoV isolates, two classes were observed and there is different differential time between these two classes and the different isolates in each class. CONCLUSIONS The evidence of phylogenetic analysis of different SARS-CoV isolates from different region is instructive for understanding the clinical relations between the different isolates and the transmission chain of SARS-CoV.

Corporeal travel has been highly problematized during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to the curtailment of many previously taken-for-granted mobilities. This includes the circulation of international students;individuals undertaking short duration credit mobility exchanges alongside those who have migrated for an entire degree course. The objective of this article is to look at how the pandemic has affected credit and degree mobility students from inside and outside Europe, focusing on the example of Portugal during the lockdown of Spring 2020. Using evidence from qualitative interviews, we illustrate the unfolding impact of the pandemic on the lives and learning habits of these students, showing how the international learning experience changed from being a relatively positive and carefree experience to one characterized by risk and uncertainty. This apparent inversion extends to a potential devaluation of their mobility capital, somewhat undermining the raison dtre of much student mobility. In conclusion, we argue that whether temporary or permanent, during the pandemic we have witnessed a turn towards immobility in tertiary education, and perhaps in the broader field of mobilities, creating an imperative to open up debate on the impact of the limitations that affect student mobilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Mobilities is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recently several patients, who developed GuillainCBarr syndrome characterized by prominent bifacial weakness after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination, were described from different centers. We recently observed a patient who developed a similar syndrome, later in the follow up he showed worsening of the neuropathy two months after the initial presentation. Repeat EMG showed reduced nerve sensory and motor conduction velocities of both upper and lower limbs, and a diagnosis of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (typical CIDP) was made according to established criteria. Our report expands on the possible outcomes in patients who develop GuillainCBarr syndrome after COVID-19 vaccinations and suggest that close monitoring after the acute phase is needed in these patients to exclude a chronic evolution of the disease, which has important implications for long-term treatment.

This article analyzes the judicial decisions issued by the Colombian Supreme Court of Justice and some Superior Courts of the Judicial District, in regard to their competence to decide the temporary house arrest and imprisonment -considered in the Legislative Decree 546 of 2020 This article defends the thesis that competition rules established by the ordinary criminal prosecution law are not applicable to these measures in the midst of the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 The main consideration is that health and life of inmates are compromised In order to promote a flexible interpretation of the law during the current crisis, this document also studies: (i) other judicial decisions related to the context of the pandemic, (ii) the prison situation, and (iii) the regulation contained in Legislative Decree 546 of 2020

Infectious diseases and widespread outbreaks influence different sectors of the economy, including the stock market. In this article, we investigate the effect of EBOV and COVID-19 outbreaks on stock market indices. We employ time-varying and constant bivariate copula methods to measure the dependence structure between the infectious disease equity market volatility index (IEMV) and the stock market indices of several sectors. The results show that the financial and communication services sectors have the highest and the lowest negative dependency on IEMV during the Ebola virus (EBOV) pandemic, respectively. However, the health care and energy sectors have the highest and lowest negative dependency on IEMV during the COVID-19 outbreak, respectively. Therefore, the results confirm the heterogeneous time-varying dependency between infectious diseases and the stock market indices. The finding of our study contributes to the ongoing literature on the impact of disease outbreaks, especially the novel coronavirus outbreak on global large-cap companies in the stock market.

Secure cloud storage is an issue of paramount importance that both businesses and end-users should take into consideration before moving their data to, potentially, untrusted clouds. Migrating data to the cloud raises multiple privacy issues, as they are completely controlled by a cloud provider. Hence, an untrusted cloud provider can potentially breach users; privacy and gain access to sensitive information. The problem becomes even more pronounced when the could provider is required to store a statistical database and periodically publish analytics. In this work, we first present a detailed example showing that the use of cryptography is not enough to ensure the privacy of individuals. Then, we design a hybrid protocol based on Functional Encryption and Differential Privacy that allows the computations of statistics in a privacy-preserving way.

The public health measures imposed in many countries to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak could have negative effects on children's physical and mental health. The authors describe four cases of acquired concomitant acute esotropia likely caused from excessive application of near vision during the COVID-19 lockdown. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2020;57:e88-e91.].

Hydroxylamine (NH2OH) and its N-substituted derivatives (RNHOH) are important biological intermediates in the global N cycle. Heme plays a central role in the binding and activation of these hydroxylamines. We report the crystal structures of N-hydroxyamphetamine (AmphNHOH) in complex with Fe and Co heme models. We demonstrate a previously unrecognized internal H-bond interaction between a hydroxylamine RNHO-H group and a porphyrin N-atom. We utilize density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations to show that the conformations with the internal H-bond represent global minima along the potential energy surfaces for both the Fe and Co heme models. A natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis reveals a donor (porN=C) to acceptor * (O-H) interaction of 3.04 kcal/mol for Fe, accounting for 11% of the total heme-AmphNHOH interaction energy. Our DFT calculations with the parent Fe-NH2OH suggests that the presence of internal H-bonds between hydroxylamine (R/H)NHOH moieties and heme N-atoms may be more common than previously recognized.

Synthesis of the Gag-Pol protein of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) requires a programmed C1 ribosomal frameshifting when ribosomes translate the unspliced viral messenger RNA. This frameshift occurs at a slippery sequence followed by an RNA structure motif that stimulates frameshifting. This motif is commonly assumed to be a simple stemCloop for HIV-1. In this study, we show that the frameshift stimulatory signal is more complex than believed and consists of a two-stem helix. The upper stemCloop corresponds to the classic stemCloop, and the lower stem is formed by pairing the spacer region following the slippery sequence and preceding this classic stemCloop with a segment downstream of this stemCloop. A three-purine bulge interrupts the two stems. This structure was suggested by enzymatic probing with nuclease V1 of an RNA fragment corresponding to the gag/pol frameshift region of HIV-1. The involvement of the novel lower stem in frameshifting was supported by site-directed mutagenesis. A fragment encompassing the gag/pol frameshift region of HIV-1 was inserted in the beginning of the coding sequence of a reporter gene coding for the firefly luciferase, such that expression of luciferase requires a C1 frameshift. When the reporter was expressed in COS cells, mutations that disrupt the capacity to form the lower stem reduced frameshifting, whereas compensatory changes that allow re-formation of this stem restored the frameshift efficiency near wild-type level. The two-stem structure that we propose for the frameshift stimulatory signal of HIV-1 differs from the RNA triple helix structure recently proposed.

Discovered in late 1960, azoles are heterocyclic compounds class which constitute the largest group of available antifungal drugs. Particularly, the imidazole ring is the chemical component that confers activity to azoles. Triazoles are obtained by a slight modification of this ring and similar or improved activities as well as less adverse effects are reported for triazole derivatives. Consequently, it is not surprising that benzimidazole/benzotriazole derivatives have been found to be biologically active. Since benzimidazole has been widely investigated, this review is focused on defining the place of benzotriazole derivatives in biomedical research, highlighting their versatile biological properties, the mode of action and Structure Activity Relationship (SAR) studies for a variety of antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and even antitumor, choleretic, cholesterol-lowering agents.

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is an impaction of the autonomic nervous system initiating orthostatic tachycardia There are numerous triggers for POTS including viruses, vaccines, and an autoimmune basis This case report is clinically relevant to better understand the pathophysiology behind the messenger RNA (mRNA) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine and the mechanism that triggers autonomic nervous system dysfunction Furthermore, the overall goal of this case study is to report a unique side effect associated with the novel mRNA COVID-19 vaccine A 42-year-old male, with no prior symptoms of sinus tachycardia and presyncope episodes, is diagnosed with POTS secondary to the first dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine Symptoms to this date include sinus tachycardia, dizziness, headaches, and fatigue that are often triggered after a large meal or standing for a longer duration Numerous diagnostic tests and images failed to confirm any other diagnosis other than POTS There was a sequential connection between the onset of symptoms approximately one week after taking the first dose of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine Currently, POTS in this patient is controlled by lifestyle modification This case report has broader implications as it can help us understand how the mRNA vaccine works on the body relative to the immune system Our theory is that the development of antibodies activates an autoimmune reaction that triggers POTS disease The prevalence of the POTS dysautonomia post-vaccination will be clearer as more data and research are conducted on the side effects from the innovative mRNA vaccines created to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Hand-to-face contacts are important for estimating chemical and microbial exposures. Few studies describe childrens hand-to-eye or -nose contacts or adults hand-to-face contacts. The study objective was to characterize hand-to-head (mouth, eyes, nose, and other) contacts for children in a daycare and adults in multiple locations. Macro-activities and sequences of hand-to-face contacts were recorded for 263 people observed for 30 min each. Statistically significant differences between locations, males and females, adults and children, and during eating and non-eating macro-activities were evaluated. Discrete Markov chains were fit to observed contact sequences and compared among adults and children during eating and non-eating macro-activities. No significant differences in contact frequency were observed between males and females with the exception of hand-to-nose contacts. Children tended to touch the mouth, eyes, and nose more frequently than adults during non-eating macro-activities. Significant differences in contact frequency were observed between locations. Transitional probabilities indicated that children make repetitive mouth, eye, and nose contacts while adults frequently transition to contacts of the head other than the mouth, eyes, or nose. More data are needed to evaluate the effect of age on adults contact frequencies and to confirm lack of statistically significant differences between adults and children during eating macro-activities.