5 KEY POINTSIn an outbreak, early healthcare personnel segregation should be considered to ensure that the provision of essential services may continue if a single team is quarantinedEstablishing a sustainable PPE usage guideline for healthcare workers early in the outbreak is of paramount importanceDesign and simulation of work processes for emergency airway creation should be considered in every otolaryngology department dealing with the COVID-19 outbreakScreening and postponement of non-urgent patient follow-ups frees up manpower and resourcesThe use of videoconferencing aids in restoring essential department activities and telemedicine may be a useful tool to explore in otolaryngology clinicsWord count: 1494

1Hsiung, Shih-Yi, 2Looy, Cindy,3Mander, Luke, and 4 Papper, Prahlada,1,2 Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, 3060 Valley Life Sciences Building #3140, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.3 College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4PS, UK.4 Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3060 Valley Life Sciences Building #3140, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Neuroprotection is an important strategy for ischemic stroke treatment. Cajaninstilbene acid (CSA), a unique stilbenoid with a styryl group, is a potential neuroprotective agent. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the neuroprotective effect and molecular mechanism of CSA against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) damages. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH The ischemic stroke was modeled by oxygen and glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) in SH-SY5Y cells and transient middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) in rats. Tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) was used to induce oxidative stress in cells. The signaling pathways were analyzed by Western blotting and inhibitor blocking. KEY RESULTS CSA possessed significant neuroprotective activity, as evidenced by the reduced cell death in OGD/R or t-BHP injured cells, and decreased infarct volume and neurological deficits in MCAO/R rats. Further studies indicated that the protective effect was achieved via the antioxidant activity of CSA, which decreased the oxidative stress and its related mitochondrial dysfunction in cells. Notably, Nrf2 was activated in cells and MCAO/R rats by CSA, and the inhibition of Nrf2 by brusatol weakened CSA-mediated neuroprotection. Furthermore, after applying a series of kinase inhibitors, CSA-induced Nrf2 activation was markedly inhibited by BML-275 (an AMPK inhibitor), implying that AMPK was the dominant kinase to regulate the Nrf2 pathway for CSA’s neuroprotective effects with enhanced AMPK phosphorylation observed both in vivo and in vitro. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION CSA exerted neuroprotection via activating AMPK/Nrf2 pathway to reduce I/R-induced cellular oxidative stress and mitochondrial disfunction. CSA could be a potential neuroprotective drug candidate for the treatment of ischemic stroke.

Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) is a culturally important and imperiled anadromous fish with a parasitic ocean phase. Biological uncertainties challenge restoration efforts and life-history research is needed to explain observed trait variation and inform management actions. Using two new whole genome assemblies and genotypes from 7,716 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci in 518 individuals from across the species range, we identified four large regions of high genomic divergence (on chromosomes 01, 02, 04, and 22). We genotyped a subset of 302 broadly distributed SNPs in 2,145 individuals for genotype-by-phenotype trait associations for adult body size, sexual maturity, migration distance and timing, adult swimming ability, and larval growth. Body size traits were strongly associated with SNPs on chromosomes 02 and 04. Moderate associations also implicated SNPs on chromosome 01 as being associated with variation in female maturity. Using genotypic frequencies of candidate SNPs for female maturity and body size, we extrapolated a heterogeneous spatiotemporal distribution of these traits based on independent datasets of larval and adult collections. These maturity and body size results guide future studies to validate these predicted phenotypic distributions across the geographic range and elucidate factors driving regional optimization of these traits for fitness.

DNA metabarcoding methods have been implemented in studies aimed at assessing and quantifying marine benthic biodiversity. In such studies, first DNA is extracted from environmental samples, then target barcodes are amplified and subsequently sequenced. In order to use such methods in a quantitative manner, a relation between the biomass and/or the abundance of a species and the number of its DNA sequences is assumed. However, studies validating this relationship are rare. In this study, we validate measurements of biomass and abundance between traditional morphological and molecular approaches. A total of 126 samples from a benthic intertidal system were analysed and quantified using abundancy and biomass estimates from the morphological approach and frequency of occurrence and relative read abundance estimates from the molecular approach. A relationship between biomass and relative read abundance was only found for one taxon (Pygospio) but all other taxons failed to show such a relationship. We discuss how quantitative measurements by the molecular approach are hampered by the ecology of DNA, i.e., all the processes which determine the amount of DNA in the environment including the ecology of the benthic species.

Since December 2019, a number of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) have been identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. NCP has rapidly spread to other provinces and cities in China and other countries in the world. Due to the rapid increase in reported cases in China and around the world, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee announced that NCP is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). However, there are relatively few suggestions and measures for tumor patients, especially patients with head and neck tumors. This article summarizes the prevention and control of disease in our medical institution to provide a reference for front-line head and neck surgeons.

Published in Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology. DOI forthcoming.Author list and affiliationNorman C. Wang, MD, MS; Sandeep K. Jain, MD; N.A. Mark Estes III, MD; William W. Barrington, MD; Raveen Bazaz, MD; Aditya Bhonsale, MD, MHS; Krishna Kancharla, MBBS; Alaa A. Shalaby, MD, MSc; Andrew H. Voigt, MD; Samir Saba, MD Heart and Vascular Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaAuthor disclosures: Dr. Wang serves as a consultant for Abbott. Dr. Jain serves as a consultant for Medtronic, receives research support from Medtronic, and is a research investigator for Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic. Dr. Estes serves as a consultant for Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic. Dr. Saba receives research support from Abbott and Boston Scientific. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center receives institutional cardiac electrophysiology fellowship support from Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic.Funding: This manuscript did not receive any specific grant(s) from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.Proposed Tweet: Priority plan for invasive cardiac EP procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. #EPeeps #COVID19

Respiratory complications have been well remarked in the novel coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), yet an emerging body of research indicates that cardiac involvement may be implicated in poor outcomes for these patients. This review seeks to gather and distill the existing body of literature that describes the cardiac implications of COVID-19. Notably, COVID-19 patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease are counted in greater frequency in intensive care unit settings, and ultimately suffer greater rates of mortality. Other studies have noted cardiac presentations for COVID-19, rather than respiratory, such as acute pericarditis and left ventricular dysfunction. In some patients there has been evidence of acute myocardial injury, with correspondingly increased serum troponin I levels. With regard to surgical interventions, there is a dearth of data describing myocardial protection during cardiac surgery for COVID-19 patients. Although some insights have been garnered in the study of cardiovascular diseases for these patients, these insights remain fragmented and have yet to cement clear guidelines for actionable clinical practice. Further studies are imperative for a more cohesive understanding of the cardiac pathophysiology in COVID-19 patients to promote more informed treatment and, ultimately, better clinical outcomes. 

Novel structure catalyst with Ni nanoparticles highly dispersed in silicalite-2 zeolite (S2) was designed and synthesized via a micro-emulsion method followed by solvent-free crystallization route for dry reforming of methane (DRM). Compared with Ni-SiO2 catalyst without crystallization step, Ni/S2 by impregnation method and Ni@S2 prepared by directly crystallization (Ni@S2-O), the Ni@S2-two steps (Ni@S2-T) catalyst exhibited optimal catalytic activity and stability. No activity loss was observed during 70 h at high GHSV of 240000 mL g-1h-1. Meanwhile, Over spent Ni@S2-T catalyst, hardly any coke was found after the prolonged test, which indicated the remarkable anti-coking ability of Ni@S2-T. Thanks to the unique two-step synthetic processes, the confinement effect of the silicalite-2 shell and stronger metal-support interaction causing by the formation of Ni phyllosilicate were regarded as the main reasons for superb catalytic performances.

In a previous article [1], we found a specific integral transform 𝒬, such that [^{-1}[f(s)](x)](t) = ^{-1}[f(s)](t) for the case that f(s)=Γ(s)ζ(s), as this had a functional equation which could be used to define an invariance. In this work we create a generalised version of this. If we have a general functional relationship for f(x) $$ f(s) = h(s)f(g(s)) $$ where g(s) has a nice inverse g−1(s). Then the prescription for getting a 𝒬 that meets the requirement of equation 1 is finding a kernel to define the transform 𝒬 for an inverse power as [x^{-s}](q,s) = \int_0^\infty x^{-s} k(x,q) \; dx = q^{-g^{-1}(s)} (s))}{g'(g^{-1}(s))} Thus for a test function ϕ(s), $$ [^{-1}[\phi]]=\left[{2\pi i}^{c+i\infty} x^{-s}\phi(s)\;ds \right] $$ $$ [^{-1}[\phi]] = {2\pi i}^{c+i\infty} \left[x^{-s}\right]\phi(s)\;ds $$ $$ [^{-1}[\phi]] = {2\pi i}^{c+i\infty} q^{-g^{-1}(s)} (s))}{g'(g^{-1}(s))}\phi(s)\;ds $$ by letting s → g(t) we get $$ [^{-1}[\phi]] = {2\pi i}(c-i\infty)}^{g^{-1}(c+i\infty)} q^{-t} h(t)\phi(g(t))\;dt = ^{-1}[h(t)\phi(g(t))] $$ the condition for this to remain an inverse Mellin transform (up to sign) is that g−1(c + i∞) → d ± i∞ and g−1(c − i∞) → d ∓ i∞. When ϕ(s)=f(s) which satisfies the functional equation, then equation 1 is satisfied. GETTING THE KERNEL FUNCTION Because we have chosen our transform to be the inverse Mellin transform, we can extract our kernel function by taking the inverse Mellin transform of the desired result of 𝒬[x−s]. Then the kernel function should be given by $$ k(q,x) = ^{-1}\left[ q^{-s} {g'(s)} \right](x) $$ EXAMPLE Take the Riemann zeta function again, but this time without the additional gamma function $$ \zeta(s) = 2^s \pi^{s-1}\sin\left({2}\right) \Gamma(1-s)\zeta(1-s) $$ Here we have $$ h(s) = 2^s \pi^{s-1}\sin\left({2}\right) \Gamma(1-s) \\ g(s) = 1-s \\ g^{-1}(s) = 1-s\\ g'(x) = -1 \\ g^{-1}(c\pm i\infty) = d \mp i \infty $$ we may need to include an additional negative factor due to the integral limits swapping sign. We assemble $$ k_f(q,x) = ^{-1}\left[ -q^{-s} 2^s \pi^{s-1}\sin\left({2}\right) \Gamma(1-s) \right](x) = {q x}\right)}{q x} $$ If we take the modular form $$ y(z) = y\left({z+2}\right) $$ then $$ h(s) = 1\\ g(s) = {s+2} \\ g^{-1}(s) = {s-2} \\ g'(s) = {(s+2)^2} \\ $$ there is a sign swap $$ k_y(q,x) = ^{-1}\left[ q^{-s} (s+2)^2 \right](x) $$ this doesn’t work so well. Starting from a simpler example $$ f(x) = \Gamma(x)f(1-x) $$ gives k(x, q)= − e−qx, then $$ [x^{-s}] = -q^{s-1}\Gamma(1-s) $$ which apparently is connected to the Laplace Transform. Likewise $$ f(s) = (-i)^s\Gamma(s)f(1-s) $$ gives the kernel −e−iqx which will relate to the Fourier transform. For the functional equation $$ f(s) = \Gamma(s)f\left({2}\right) $$ we get $$ k(q,x) = ^{-1}[q^{-s}s^{-1}\Gamma(s)] = \Gamma(0,qx) $$ This defines a transform such that $$ [x^n] = {(n+1)q^{n+1}}, q>0 $$ which seems quite fundamental in terms of differentiation. Another interesting one satisfies $$ f(s) = \Gamma(s)f(s+s^2) $$ which gives $$ k(q,x) = e^{-q x} - + () $$ and $$ f(s) = \Gamma(s)f(s+{2}) $$ $$ k(q,x) = e^{-q x} - qx \Gamma(0,qx) $$ for which $$ [x^n] = {(n+2)q^{n+1}}, q>0 $$ REFERENCES [1] - Riemann Zeta Invariance Under Composed Integral Transform, https://www.authorea.com/users/5445/articles/436204-riemann-zeta-invariance-under-composed-integral-transform

In December 31st 2019, an episode of Acute respiratory Disease syndrome (ARDS) was first noted in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. On 11th February 2020 WHO office gave the name as COVID-19 and universal advisory group on scientific classification of infections named SARS-COV-2. In view of the mass of the contaminated population that were wide opened to the creature meat advertise in Wuhan City, China, recommended that it is likely of the zoonotic starting point and has influenced 186 nations and regions .About 25% and 75% of the confirmed cases were from China and outside China separately with most elevated mortality and dreariness in Italy. Spurting hereditary qualities and clinical confirmation advocate a homology pathogenesis model as that of SARS CoV and MERS CoV in which the cytokine tempest and raised chemokine’s trigger safe structure in exaggerated way prompting various organ disappointment and lead to death in extreme cases. Individual to-individual course of COVID-19 contamination prompted the isolation of patients that were in this way regulated a decent variety of treatment. Extra special Surveillance and endeavour’s to diminish flow ought to be applied in hazard residents including youngsters, medicinal services suppliers. Confirmation of COVID-19 contamination requires nucleic corrosive testing by RT-PCR of tests of respiratory tract and clinical determination assume an indispensable job in early examination and assessment of ailment way. We systematically survey the sources, aetiology, disease transmission, pathogenesis, clinical indications, examination and prevention of COVID – 19, inspected from significant conveyed articles to provide extraordinary reference to expert.

The MERCURY consortium, established in 2000, has contributed greatly to the scientific development of faculty and undergraduates. The MERCURY faculty peer review publication rate from 2001-2019 of 1.7 papers/faculty/year is 3.4 times the rate of physical science faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions. We have worked with over 1000 students on research projects since 2001, and 75% of our undergraduate research students have been underrepresented in chemistry, either female or students of color. Approximately half of our alumni attend graduate school for the purpose of obtaining advanced degrees in STEM fields and 2/3 are female and/or students of color. We have had more than 1600 attendees at the 18 MERCURY conferences, including 111 invited speakers, 61 of whom have been female and/or faculty of color. In this paper the research accomplishments, transformational outcomes, and scientific productivity of the MERCURY faculty are highlighted.

The influence of particle size and solvent flow rate on the kinetics of oil extraction from soybean (eight fractions from 0.433 to 0.122 mm) was studied using hexane, simulating commercial percolation type extractor. The reduction in particle size from 0.433 mm to 0.141 mm showed an increase in the oil extractability. However, further reduction to 0.129 mm and 0.122 mm affected the extractability due to bed compaction, reducing porosity and contact area. The extractability (21.5%) of the ground mass was similar to the major mass fractions (0.239 - 0.353mm). The rate of extraction increased drastically with the solvent flow rate. The highest flow rate (9.67 mL/min) exhibited the highest mass transfer coefficient (km) 1.27×10-3 s-1 and the diffusion coefficient (De) 1.77×10-12m2/s. At 7.33 mL/min, the yield and the rate of extraction were optimal and no potential benefits were obtained at higher flow rates.

Sampling impediments and paucity of suitable material for molecular analyses have precluded the study of speciation and radiation of deep-sea species in Antarctic ecosystems. This knowledge may serve to establish the framework for evaluating future anthropogenic alterations, particularly in a highly susceptible region like Antarctica. Here, we analyze genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) obtained from double digestion restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq) for most species in the family Antarctophilinidae and throughout the geographic distribution and bathymetric ranges of these marine snails. We also reevaluate the fossil record associated with this taxon. In light of the new data provided we discuss relevant diversification processes and biogeographic and bathymetric affinities. Novel approaches in finding genetic distinctive lineages, including unsupervised machine learning variational autoencoder (VAE) plots, are further used to establish species hypothesis frameworks aided by available morphological data. In this sense, two new species and a complex of cryptic species are here identified, suggesting allopatric speciation connected to geographic or bathymetric isolation. We further, observe that the shallow waters around the Scotia Arc and on the continental shelf in the Weddell Sea present high endemism and diversity. In contrast, likely due to the glacial pressure during the Cenozoic, a deep-sea group with fewer species emerged expanding over great areas in the South-Atlantic Antarctic Ridge. Our study exemplifies how diachronic paleoclimatic and current environmental factors shaped Antarctic communities both at the shallow and deep-sea levels, promoting Antarctica as the center of origin for numerous taxa such as gastropod mollusks.

In this work, we demonstrate an effective approach to enhance the activity and selectivity of carbon materials for hydrogen peroxide （H2O2）production by means of interface engineering. Carbon black and/or graphite are mixed with polytetrafluoroethylene（PTFE）and pore-forming agent to form a gas diffusion electrode for H2O2. Structural characterizations find that PTFE not only acts as a binder, it also changes the original pore size distribution of carbon materials by increasing the number of mesoporous and micron pores. These unique hierarchical pores enhance an efficient gas transmission and dispersion network system. Meanwhile, a number of polymer phases are generated in the inner of electrode with the size of 30nm-1μm, which enhance the affinity of catalyst surface to oxygen. Under the detachable H-type H2O2 test device and optimized conditions, H2O2 concentration can reach 11.8wt%. The simple physical mixing engineering fabricating hierarchical pores would be helpful to other electrochemical processes involving gas-solid-liquid three-phase interface.

The crystallization behavior of mango kernel fat (MKF) at 25 °C with and without the application of high-intensity ultrasound (HIU) (20 kHz, 125 W) was studied as a function of ultrasound amplitude level (30%, 50% and 70% of the maximum amplitude of 180 μm). The irradiation time was fixed at 5 s. It was found that HIU induced MKF crystallization. The crystallization induction time decreased with a decrease in crystal size and an increase in the number of crystals as the HIU amplitude increased. The β′→β transformation was also accelerated with HIU application. This work has shown that there is a great potential for the use of HIU in the food industry to achieve a shorter and more controllable crystallization process. In particular, HIU could be used as an efficient tool for controlling the polymorphic transition of fats.

Dear Editor,Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Dr Sahu’s letter1. We would like to thank Dr Sahu and his team for their valuable points and ourselves recognise and acknowledge the gaps in our early commentary2 which reflected on the early practice at our hospital, with an aim to help fellow obstetricians with the management of COVID-19 at the start of the outbreak. Since then, more literature has been published providing us with greater knowledge regarding this new infection. Guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)3 and International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ISUOG)4 amongst others help us streamline management of COVID-19 in pregnant patients.Both guidelines concur that radiographic investigations should be performed in pregnant patients – protecting the fetus by using a radiation shield over the gravid uterus. Chest CT has high sensitivity up to 97% for diagnosis of COVID-19 and may be considered as primary tool for COVID-19 detection.Both guidelines recommend the use of antenatal corticosteroids (ANC) for the usual indications but cautions use in critically ill women with COVID-19 infection as it may worsen their clinical condition. Importantly, urgent deliveries should not be delayed for the administration of ANC.Li et al5 compared clinical characteristics, maternal and neonatal outcomes of pregnant women with and without COVID-19. They found that COVID-19 infection generally causes mild respiratory symptoms in pregnant women, with no deaths or severe respiratory complications requiring critical care. They observed a higher rate of preterm deliveries in confirmed cases (33.3%) compared to control groups (¬5%). This study included two patients who had vaginal deliveries prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. Their newborns did not show any respiratory symptoms.New reports of SARS-COV-2 IgM in infants6 at birth suggest possibility of vertical transmission although COVID-19 infection in newborns is more commonly likely due to neonatal transmission.During breastfeeding, the main risk for infants lies in their close contact with mothers and transmission of infective respiratory droplets. Infected mothers wishing to breastfeed should do so with precautions such as wearing surgical masks, practising good hand hygiene and thorough cleaning of equipment after use. While the decision for separation of mother and baby has serious consequences on bonding and mental health, we continue to advise separation of baby from mothers infected with COVID-19 due to risk of neonatal transmission.Current data suggests that the adverse effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy are less severe than those of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. All presently reported patients were diagnosed in the third trimester and the potential effects of COVID-19 infections in the first and second trimesters remain to be investigated.As Dr Sahu mentioned, comparative studies are scarce. Establishment of international registries will improve our understanding of COVID-19 in pregnancy. Meanwhile, we shall continue to support one another and work together in the fight against this pandemic.We would like to thank the all departments from the Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Infectious Diseases Department and all staff in KK Womens’ and Children’s Hospital for leading the COVID-19 fight locally.Monica Shi Qi Chua1, Jill Cheng Sim Lee2, Suzanna Sulaiman1, Hak Koon Tan31Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,2Department of Urogynaecology,3Division of Obstetrics and GynaecologyKK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Singapore

Phantom pain (PhP)is reported by patients after limb amputation due to trauma or chronic diseases. We report the case of successful PhP treatment with pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) of the femoral and sciatic nerve. (PRF) reduced the intensity of pain for one year, improving the quality of life of the patient.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was first reported in Wuhan in December 2019, is now widespread with outbreaks reaching across the world1. The hospital-acquired transmission rate of COVID-19 is about 41%2, which is due to human-to-human transmission. Compared to COVID-19, SARS3 and MERS4 appear to have a lower morbidity rate and a higher mortality rate of ~ 10% and 37%, respectively.Despite the high number of infections in the most developed south-eastern coastal provinces of mainland China, such as Zhejiang, they may exceed the mortality rate, as the global mortality rate of COVID-19 is about 3.4%5, while lower mortality rates are reported for these areas. However, no deaths are reported in Zhejiang for 1171 confirmed cases and only four deaths are confirmed in Guangdong, with 1322 true positive cases (0.3%)6,7. This is a clear evidence that mortality rates are directly related to the quality of crisis management.In contrast to all the previous outbreaks and pandemics, there is one untapped hope that could make dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic possible after all, i.e. artificial intelligence (AI) and its related technologies. For example, bioinformatics can benefit from advances in generative AI8, machine learning can assist in accurate detection of the infection9, social media analysis can raise awareness and identify cases which are not reported by governments10, simulations based on reinforcement learning11 can identify pandemic outbreak pace and magnitude and assist policy makers in their decisions.The pandemic risk of COVID-19 results from several factors: (i) it is difficult to differentiate COVID-19 because the outbreak of the disease is associated with respiratory symptoms that are common to many other respiratory diseases such as colds and flu, which usually have a high prevalence during the cold season, (ii) COVI-19 is quite persistent and enjoys low temperatures, (iii) the transmission rate is quite high (41%), in almost 80% of cases patients do not show typical symptoms and they could be carrier and transmit the disease to others12.It has been estimated that there will be more deaths in developing countries, especially in countries with higher population density and lower hygienic index, and developed countries which has lots of international connections, which could contribute to an uncontrolled pandemic. Therefore, AI and its sub-branches could contribute to better management of the disease in these countries and could be beneficial in addition to human factors. Successful control of COVID-19, which has a high morbidity rate and resembles the primary symptoms of harmless respiratory diseases, depends on early diagnosis. A 14-day quarantine of false positive individuals leads to a heavy burden on health systems and ineffective disease management. Perhaps the first application of AI in a real struggle is to explore its true potential in the initial diagnosis of COVID-19 and the identification of subsequent outbreaks.Fortunately, the first experiment in this area was promising, in which the initial diagnosis of the disease based on a 10-15 minute computer tomography (CT) showed a diagnosis rate of 81% and with the help of AI, the detection rate could be improved up to 90% within seconds13.What AI can potentially do to win people’s battle against COVID-19 is (i) early detection of the disease with a high degree of accuracy that can save time and lead to a good decision, (ii) avoiding unnecessary quarantine of healthy people, and (iii) early diagnosis of sick individuals that can prevent further transmission of the disease. Furthermore, taking into account the demographic factors of the patient, such as sex, age and lifestyle in each country, AI can help to predict the circulation of the disease in the country and the direct use of available facilities where they are most needed. It is also possible to identify high-risk groups, related professions and companies to prevent the spread of the disease. As a point-of-care device, AI can save time, costs, energy and many lives.AI is highly valued in developing countries, which have fewer opportunities to deal with the disease than developed countries. It can lead to the right decisions being taken at the right time and in the right place, thus providing a fair and rational distribution of opportunities to control the virus in high-risk regions. This may make developing countries less vulnerable to deaths, but given the severe economic sanctions imposed on some countries, such as Iran, many nominated companies operating in the AI sector are reluctant to do so and stand still. The fight against COVID-19 in developing countries requires full support, and in the end the whole world will benefit from it.We also believe that it is necessary to initiate open source projects. Just a few examples show how an open source device like a ventilator can save many lives, and there are some promising efforts in this direction, such as an open source platform for surgical robotics14. The same attitude is required for algorithms and applications. At the time of writing this article, there are several preprints explaining the use of a deep learning algorithm to identify COVID-19 from pneumonia15,16 but to our knowledge, none of them have been published as open source so that other developers can use these algorithms in their application to improve their COVID-19 detection rate, which is an unnecessary investment of time and energy in reinventing the wheel in this stressed situation where time is precious and crucial.

Obstetrical view of COVID-19:

A 55-year-old man with left temporo-insulo-parietal glioblastoma was admitted because of abrupt excruciating pain in right arm and ipsilateral face. EEG showed a left central frontal rhythmic activity and complains were controlled with anti-epileptic drugs. Paroxysmal pain is an unusual manifestation of focal seizures and can be the only symptom.

Nutritional limitations imposed on populations may shape species life histories. However, populations consist of individuals belonging to different sexes and life stages, each with specific nutritional demands and limitations. Taking this into account, we used the ecological stoichiometry framework to study the budgets of twelve elements in both sexes of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis under natural conditions. We considered the stoichiometric niche and elemental transfer from larval food to the adult body and cocoon, studying the multielemental composition of food (pollen), eggs, pupae, adults, cocoons and excreta. The sexes differed fundamentally in their elemental phenotypes, stoichiometric niches, and assimilation and allocation of acquired atoms for all the elemental budget components, including elements beyond those most commonly studied (C, N and P). Sexual dimorphism in nutritional limitation occurring in different life cycle stages may influence bee population functioning and should be considered in bee conservation efforts.

Global climate change and the industrial revolution have increased the concentration of tropospheric ozone, a photochemical air pollutant that can negatively affect plant growth and crop production. In the present study, we investigated the effects of O3 on the metabolites and transcriptome of tartary buckwheat. A total of 37 metabolites were identified by gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and principal component analysis was performed to verify the metabolic differences between non-treated and O3-treated Tartary buckwheat. The levels of most metabolites (threonic acid, tryptophan, sucrose, and raffinose) decreased significantly after the O3 treatment. On the contrary, the levels of two anthocyanins, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-rutinoside, increased more than 11.36- and 11.43-fold, respectively after the O3 treatment. To assess the effect of O3 on the genomic level, we analyzed the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway genes in O3-treated and non-treated buckwheat using quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR. We found that the expression of all anthocyanin pathway genes increased significantly in the O3-treated buckwheat compared to that in the non-treated buckwheat. Altogether, our results suggested that O3 affected the transcripts and metabolites of tartary buckwheat, which would eventually cause phenotypic changes in plants.

Vaccines provide effective protection against many infectious diseases as well as therapeutics for some serious diseases, such as cancer. Many viral vaccines require amplification of virus in cell cultures during manufacture. Traditionally, cell cultures, such as VERO, have been used for virus production in bovine serum-containing culture media. However, due to concerns of potential adventitious agents present in fetal bovine serum (FBS), regulatory agencies suggest avoiding the use of bovine serum in vaccine production. Current serum-free media suitable for VERO-based virus production contains high concentrations of undefined plant hydrolysates. Although these media have been extensively used, the lack of chemical definition has potential to adversely affect cell growth kinetics and subsequent virus production. As plant hydrolysates are made from plant raw materials, performance variations could be significant among different lots of production. We developed a chemically defined, serum-free medium, OptiVERO, that was optimized specifically for VERO cells. VERO cell growth kinetics were demonstrated to be equivalent to EMEM-10% FBS in this chemically defined medium while the plant hydrolysate-containing medium demonstrated a higher doubling time in both 2D and 3D cultures. Virus production comparisons demonstrated that the chemically defined OptiVERO medium performed at least as good as the EMEM-10%FBS and better than the plant hydrolysate-containing media. We report the success in using recombinant proteins to replace undefined plant hydrolysates to formulate a chemically defined medium that can efficiently support VERO cell expansion and virus production.