Event-based surveillance (EBS) systems monitor a broad range of information sources to detect early signals of disease emergence, including new and unknown diseases. Following the emergence of a newly identified coronavirus –so-called COVID-19, in humans in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the capacity of three Event-Based Systems (EBS) systems (ProMED, HealthMap and PADI-web) to detect early signals of this emergence. We evaluated the changes in the online news vocabulary coinciding with the period before / after the identification of COVID-19, as well as the assessment of its contagiousness and pandemic potential. ProMED was the timeliest EBS, detecting signals one day before the official notification. At this early stage, the specific vocabulary was related to “pneumonia symptoms” and “mystery illness”. Once COVID-19 was identified, the vocabulary changed to virus family and specific COVID-19 acronyms. Our results suggest the three EBS systems are complementary regarding data sources, and all need improvements regarding timeliness. EBS methods should be adapted to the different stages of disease emergence to improve the early detection of future emergence of unknown pathogens.

The desertification affects more than 250,000 ha in the district of Errachidia and results in the expansion of desert landscapes such as the Regs, Hamadas and the Dunes. The latter is a big concern in the district since it is the source of siltation, which threatens dwellings, cultivated lands and water bodies. It is of paramount importance to understand the causes and consequences of silting to develop strategies to combat it. Thus, first, we analysed the spatial and temporal dynamics of sand dunes until 2069 by applying the Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving-Average (SARIMA) model on a time series of sand dune areas. These areas were calculated annually from 1987 to 2019 by computing the sand cover index (SCI) on Landsat satellite images. Furthermore, we evaluated the influence of different natural and human factors such as temperature, precipitation, wind, vegetation, and population growth, on sand dune dynamics using Spearman's correlation test. The results indicated that the area of sand dunes will increase by 1.7% per year between 2019 and 2069 in the district of Errachidia. This increase would be mainly caused by the combined action of ecological factors, which vary from year to year. In general, temperature and precipitation act indirectly on wind and vegetation to influence the dynamics of sand dunes in hyper-arid areas where the soil is bare or poorly covered with vegetation, where precipitation is low and where temperature is high. 

Background. Chemosensitive disorders are very frequent in the early stages of COVID-19 and in paucisymptomatic cases. These patients are typically placed in home quarantine. This study has the aim of validating a new olfactory and gustatory objective evaluation test in these patients.Methods. Thirty-three home-quarantined COVID-19 patients have undergone a self-administered chemosensitive test the day before the control swab. On this occasion, the patients underwent operator-administered already validated tests. The results were finally compared.Results. The differences between the results of the two tests were not significant for both the olfaction (P = 0.201) and the taste (P = 0.180).Conclusion. The olfactory and gustatory evaluation by self-administered test can be considered a valid tool, fundamental for obtaining objective qualitative and quantitative data on the extent of chemosensitive disorders in home-quarantined COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised controversies regarding safe and effective care of head and neck cancer patients. It is unknown how much the pandemic has changed surgeon practice. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to head and neck surgeons assessing opinions related to treatment and concerns for the safety of patients, self, family, and staff. Results: A total of 67 head and neck surgeons responded during the study period. Surgeons continued to recommend primary surgical treatment for oral cavity cancers. Respondents were more likely to consider non-surgical therapy for patients with early glottic cancers and HPV-mediated oropharynx cancer. Surgeons were least likely to be concerned for their own health and safety and had the greatest concern for their resident trainees. Conclusions: This study highlights differences in the willingness of head and neck surgeons to delay surgery or alter plans during times when hospital resources are scarce and risk is high.

The present investigation is concerned with high-cycle axial fatigue testing of a 2 mm AA6060-T6 HYB butt weld produced in the solid state using AA6082 filler metal additions. It complements the three-point bend testing and the tensile testing done in two previous studies. Also, optical and scanning electron microscope investigations have been carried out to reveal the macro/microstructure and document possible surface & root defects deemed to be destructive to fatigue life. In the as-welded condition, the HYB weld suffers from surface irregularities at the weld face and “kissing” bond formation in the root region. Still, these defects are not devastating for the structural integrity. As a matter of fact, the subsequent benchmark testing shows that the fatigue properties surpass those reported for a comparable AA6082-T6 gas metal arc butt weld and fully match those reported for corresponding high-strength laser beam and friction stir weldments.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has touched almost every continent. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the final line of protection of healthcare workers (HCW). There is variation as well as controversy of infection control recommendation with regards to the use of PPE for HCW between institutions. The aim of this narrative review is to of examine and summarise the available evidence to guide recommendation for the safety of HCW. A literature search was conducted on the PubMed, MedLine, and Embase databases with the keywords “personal protective equipment”, “COVID 19”, “n95”, “health care worker”, and “mortality”. SARS-nCoV-2 is highly contagious. 3.5-20% of HCW has been reported to be infected. The mortality ranges from 0.53-1.94%. PPE is part of the measure within a package of prevention and control of pandemic, rather than a replacement of. Respirators are more effective than masks in preventing aerosol transmission to HCWs. Extended use may be considered if guidelines are adhered. PAPRs if available should be used in high risk procedures. Transmission of viruses is multimodal, and in the setting of a novel pathogen with high case fatality with no proven effective interventions, PPE that affords the best protection should be available to HCWs.

The identification of novel SARS coronavirus in 2019 and the diffusion of COVID-19 prompted a new topic with an increased number of related scientific publications. Here we discuss the “spreading of papers” by analysing the first 60 papers following the “paper zero”.

BACKGROUNDCoronavirus has serially overtaken our metropolitan hospitals. At peak, patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome may outnumber mechanical ventilators. In our Miami hospital system COVID-19 cases have multiplied for 4 weeks and elective surgery has been suspended.METHODSAn otolaryngologic triage committee was created to appropriately allocate resources to patients. Hospital ethicists provided support. Our tumor conference screened patients for non-surgical options. Patients were tested twice for Sars-CoV-2 before performing urgent contaminated operations. N95 masks and protective equipment were conserved when possible. Patients with low-grade cancers were advised to delay surgery, and other difficult decisions were made.RESULTSHundreds of surgeries were cancelled. Sixty-five cases supervised over three weeks are tabulated. Physicians and patients expressed discomfort regarding perceived deviations from standards, but risk of Covid-19 exposure tempered these discussions.CONCLUSIONSWe describe the use of actively managed surgical triage to fairly balance our patient’s health with public health concerns.

Meridians(Jingluo, 经络), which have been debated in the medical community for thousands of years, are still in invisible and untouchable status. Its functions determine the human body life or death. Combined Chinese and modern medicine, we have firstly identified the anatomy and histological composition of triple energizer, which is the sum of connective tissues and its network is the carrier of meridians. Meridians are simply located on the triple energizer structure and is parts of it. We establish the concept of triple energizer-meridian network system. For the first time, we have seen meridians, touched and anatomized them, which feature universal significance to human health, and will open a new era of life science.

Background This study describes a novel approach in reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission during tracheostomy. Methods Five patients underwent tracheostomy between 01 April 2020 and 17 April 2020. A clear and sterile plastic drape was used as an additional physical barrier against droplets and aerosols. Operative diagnosis; droplet count and distribution on plastic sheet and face shields were documented. Results Tracheostomy was performed for patients with carcinoma of tonsil (n=2) and nasopharynx (n=1), and aspiration pneumonia (n=2). Droplet contamination was noted on all plastic sheets (n=5). Droplet contamination was most severe over the central surface at 91.5% (86.7%-100.0%) followed by the left and right lateral surfaces at 5.2% (6.7%-10.0%) and 3.3% (6.7%-10.0%) respectively. No droplet contamination was noted on all face shields. Conclusion Plastic drapes can help reduce viral transmission to health care providers during tracheostomy. Face shields may be spared which in turn helps to conserve resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Probability Density Estimation of stochastic electric load is of most importance nowadays in power system operations and urban planning. This is due to the continuous demand to integrate intermittent renewable energy resources that introduce uncertainties in the operating state of power systems which in turn requires accurate and reliable methods to estimate load. This paper is the first to employ a nonparametric techniques called Root Transform Local Linear Regression for estimating electric load. This robust model proposed estimates electric load data  more accurately than parametric models used in current literature. The performance of the root transform local linear regression model is compared with two kernel density estimation models and two parametric models (Gaussian and Gamma distributions) and is assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test, Coefficient of determination and four error metrics. Results confirm the accuracy of the nonparametric models over the parametric models with the root transform model performing best across all error metrics and K-S test, followed by the kernel density estimation model. An interactive web application is developed to perform the same analysis presented in this paper on any type of univariate data.

Background The WHO recommends testing any suspected person with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), in order to limit the spread of the epidemic. In Italy, some Regions opted for extensive testing, whereas others limited tests to selected subjects. To assess the influence of different strategies, we examined the incidence of death and severe cases in Italy. Methods Data on new cases of SARS-CoV-2, number of tests, deaths, and admissions to Intensive Care Units (ICU) were retrieved in each Italian Region, from February 24th to March 18th, 2020. As an index of different screening strategies, the number of tests/positive test results (T/P) ratio as of March 7th, 2020, was considered. The cumulative number of deaths and of new severe cases, between March 23thand 25th was recorded. The association of those two outcomes with the number of T/P ratio was assessed using linear regression models. Results In the interval between March 23th-25th, recorded deaths (*million inhabitants) were 14(3-54), whereas severe cases were 31(10-112). Both the number of deaths and that of severe cases showed a significant correlation (R2 .38 and .37, with p<.01) with the T/P ratio. Deaths and severe cases were associated with higher mean personal income and lower density of General Practioners (GPs). The association of T/P with severe cases and deaths retained statistical significance after adjusting for mean personal income (R2 .20 and .21, respectively; both p=.04) and GPs density (R2.22 and .21, respectively; both p=.03). Conclusions A more aggressive screening strategy for SARS-Cov-2, was associated with lower rates of death and severe disease in Regions of Italy.

Synthetic biology is the engineering approach to edit or write the genome aiming to design the biological devices (promoters, transcription factors, TFBS, terminators etc.) of an organism to achieve the improved properties, while, metabolic engineering aiming to engineer the microbes to produce metabolites on industrial scale through recombinant DNA technologies. Recently, both synthetic biology and metabolic engineering fields are growing quickly and are used to produce metabolites of interest. The main theme of Synthetic Biology – Metabolic Engineering book is to review the tools and techniques used in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to design and engineer the microbes to produce value-added metabolites and its application in industrial biotechnology. The book is written by the world-renowned metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists in series of Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology and primarily elaborates the synergy between metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

No current treatment options were successful in containing the ongoing pandemic COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. It is essential to understand the molecular players of SARS-CoV-2 to find a suitable treatment method and to develop an effective antiviral drug as early as possible. Global researchers have undertaken accelerated structural studies of key proteins involved in host-virus interaction, replication, and transcription. In silico studies support structural biologist with preliminary information to efficiently drive further studies and characterization. From the genome sequence, most SARS-CoV-2 annotated ORF has a conserved sequence similar to SARS-CoV-1, except for ORF8 and ORF10. The function of ORF8 protein in SARS-CoV-2 is uncertain. Herein, we had modelled the ORF8 protein and studied its putative function using various substrates as a probe to determine its biological significance. The modelled SARS-CoV-2 (mORF87A) protein shows IgG characteristic folds and thus may belong to IgG superfamily. Further, we studied the binding efficacy of various antiviral drugs against the modelled ORF8 of SARS-CoV-2 (mORF8) to repurpose the drug and to use them as a probe to study its function by studying the binding/active sites interaction. Remdesivir had the highest binding affinity to ORF8 protein of SARS-CoV-2. The high affinity of the adenosine analogue yields critical information about the non-canonical RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) function of ORF8 protein. We hypothesize that the ORF8 protein may be a non-canonical RdRp in SARS-CoV-2 with ability to bind to canonical nsp12 complex.

Parental (transgenerational) effects occur when the conditions experienced by a mother or father contribute to offspring phenotype. Here we show that parental larval diet in mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, results in differential allocation of resources in offspring of parents depending on the nutritional condition (quality) of their mate. Maternal effects influenced the number of eggs produced by females as well as their lipid investment. Low nutrient females mated with high nutrient males laid eggs with significantly higher lipid content than those laid by high nutrient females. Paternal effects showed that when high nutrient males mated with low nutrient females, resulting eggs had higher lipid content than when low nutrient males mated with low nutrient females. Overall, our results are consistent with a pattern predicted by the differential allocation of resources hypothesis, when females experience nutritional deprivation, which asserts that mate quality directly influences reproductive allocation.

Mini-commentary on BJOG-20-0076.R1: Differences in fetal fractional limb volume changes in normal and gestational diabetic pregnancies: an exploratory observational study

The first cases of patients infected with SARS-Cov-2 virus were recorded in China in November 2019, and then rapidly spread to all countries around the world, causing a global pandemic. Much is known about the pathophysiology of this virus infection, but perhaps not enough. One of the aspects still to be investigated is the correlation between the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and SARS-Cov-2 infection. RAS is a physiological system with a key role in regulating the different functions of the human body. SARS-CoV-2, uses the enzyme ACE-2 as a potential factor of cell penetration and infectivity, moreover in the different stages of infection a functional variation of the RAS system has been noted in different targets and at different times. In particular, in this article, we discuss the role of RAS on SARS-Cov-2 infection, and possible therapies that acting modifiers the system.

An acute respiratory disease, caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread throughout China and other countries and received worldwide attention. On 30 January 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic as a public health emergency of international concern. At the moment of writing this article (April 2020) a total of 2.240.191 cases confirmed worldwide since the outbreak and 153.822 deaths in 166 countries or regions confirmed cases globally had been reported. Meanwhile, several independent research groups have identified that SARS-CoV-2 has highly identical genome with SARS-COV-1. The novel coronavirus uses the same receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as that for SARS-CoV, and mainly spreads through the respiratory tract. The clinical symptoms of patients include fever, cough, fatigue and a small population of patients appeared gastrointestinal infection symptoms. Currently, there are few specific therapeutic strategies, but several potent candidates of antivirals and repurposed drugs are under urgent investigation. In this review, we summarized the current treatment and scientific advancements to combat the epidemic novel coronavirus. Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, treatment, coronavirus, infection, pneumonia

For some patients with SARS-CoV-2, the worst clinical damage is not caused by the virus itself, but by an overactive inflammatory state. In fact, in some people the immune system goes into overdrive and launches a large-scale assault on the tissue known as cytokine storm. This excessive immune reaction can damage tissue and eventually kill people. Several tests show that blocking such cytokine storms can be effective, studies are underway to test drugs that act by reducing cytokine response, such as tocilizumab and sarilumab that bind interleukin 6 (IL-6) or anikinra which is the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1). However, other drugs that block the cytokine cascade can also be considered. In this article we describe the scientific and molecular motivation for the use of drugs that act by modulating the inflammatory system in patients with SARS-CoV-2, considering in particular an old drug that has been in use for many years for other therapeutic indications such as colchicine, and that could be favorable its use to block the cytokine cascade in SARS-CoV-2 patients, with low cost and good tolerability.

About 300 million people worldwide are affected by rheumatic diseases and over 5 and a half million men and women affected by rheumatological diseases are present in Italy. These are chronic diseases and therefore require treatment and diagnostic tests for long periods of time. Patient needs must be met even in these difficult months marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. The guarantee of therapeutic continuity is important and increasingly dangerous is the lack of many drugs. This is because many antimalarial and anti-inflammatory drugs have entered the protocols for treatment from Sars Cov 2. Without taking these medicines, which for years have also been used in rheumatology, there is a risk of reactivating serious diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or systemic Lupus erythematosus.

Mechanical complications of myocardial infarction are rare but have elevated short- and long-term mortality rates. The authors present a rare case of an inferobasal left ventricular aneurysm and rupture after a silent inferior infarction. A multimodality approach is important in the diagnosis and management.

Objective: The global outbreak of COVID-19 is emerged recently and this poses stress on health and well-being of the people in the worldwide including in Indonesia. Public interest in this new issue largely reflects people’s attention to COVID-19 and their willingness to take precautionary actions. This study aimed to examine public awareness on the prevention of COVID-19 using Google Trend (GT) . Methods: Using GT, we retrieved public query data for the term of (coronavirus, handwashing, hand sanitizer, and facemask) between 12 December 2019 and 4 April 2020 in the specific locations of Indonesia nationwide and several provinces. The correlation between daily search volumes on the topic related to COVID-19 and the daily number of people infected with COVID-19 was analyzed. Results: Our studies observed the overall search trend of RSV regarding COVID-19 after the global outbreak and the announcement of first covid-19 case in Indonesia, the search related to COVID-19, and other defined terms in Indonesia increased rapidly. In addition, search related to face mask were gradually increased. Searches for face mask and hand sanitizer is more popular than handwashing. There is a positive correlation between daily RSV on COVID-19 and other defined terms and the daily number of people infected with COVID-19 nationwide ( p <0·05). There are various interest to RSV related to COVID-19, and public awareness of COVID-19 was almost similar in some provinces, particularly searches related to facemask and hand sanitizer. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrates that GT could potentially define the proper timing and location for practicing appropriate risk communication strategies to prevent the spread of emerging disease. The study demonstrates that government should strengthen the publicity of COVID- 19 nationally, reinforce the public’s awareness on the prevention of COVID-19 and finally inform the importance of protecting individuals with appropriate and affordable precautionary measures.

The world is confronting a dire situation due to the recent pandemic of the novel coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV) with so far mortality cases of 100,000 all over the world. Currently, there are no effective enough treatment options for this previously unknown virus. The current drugs in pipline and some plausible drug are overviewed in this paper. The potential molecular targets of each steps of the 2019-nCoV drug life cycle is discussed and highlights here. Although different types of anti-viral targets are applicable for 2019-nCoV drug screenings, the more promising targets can be considered as protease and RNA polymerase. Based on the results from antiviral agents repurposing and clinical studies, the remdesivir could be an encouraging drug in the frontline to be administrated for 2019-nCoV. Much progress in understanding the 2019-nCoV the molecular details of its life cycle followed by the identification of therapeutic targets seems to be an efficient approach in discovering potential drugs.

One of the most important drivers of the coexistence of species is the resource heterogeneity of a certain environment. Thus, many studies in different ecosystems have been carried out to test whether species richness is affected by resource heterogeneity. To date, only few studies have measured light and soil resources heterogeneity in forests to investigate its influence on plant diversity. In this study, the aim was to determine (1) which resources have major influences on forest understory plant diversity; (2) the influence of the forest canopy on the heterogeneous distribution of light and soil resources; (3) whether heterogeneity of resources increases understory plant species richness; and (4) if stand structural complexity is an indicator for understory plant species richness. Measures of stand structural complexity were obtained through inventories and remote sensing techniques in 135 study plots of temperate forests, established along a gradient of forest structural complexity. We surveyed vegetation, measured light conditions and soil properties six times in each of all plots. We calculated the standard deviations of these parameters to receive a measure of heterogeneity. Results showed that heterogeneity of light and soil C:N ratio increases with increasing stand structural complexity, increasing light heterogeneity leads to increased understory plant species richness, and finally, an increase of stand structural diversity predicts an increase in understory plant diversity. The study clearly shows that resource heterogeneity theory plays a major role in the coexistence of understory plant species and hence its diversity. These results suggest that understory plant diversity could be increased in forests managed by single tree harvesting by spatially varying the quantities of trees to be logged to create a more heterogeneous understory light environment.