COVID-19 and its effects on the driving style of spanish drivers

Spain is one of the countries most affected by COVID-19. Until May 5, 2021 there have been 3.54 million people infected and 78,399 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. This has meant that Spain is one of the countries in the world where the most restrictive measures have been adopted and which have had a strong impact on the economic, social, and mental health of citizens. One of the consequences of this pandemic is a severe increase in the strain on the healthcare system. Many of those infected had to be admitted to hospitals and even to Intensive Care Units (ICU). In this scenario, it is essential to reduce traffic accidents in order to avoid overcrowded hospitals. However, the Spanish General Directorate of Traffic highlights in several traffic reports that despite the decrease in the volume and distance of trips, the number of traffic accidents has not altered significantly and even during some periods has been higher than before the pandemic. The aim of this work is to establish if there has been a change in the driving style of drivers during the pandemic and to identify the group of people adopting a more inefficient and unsafe driving style. To this end, a study was carried out with 30 volunteers and their current driving style was compared with their driving style before the pandemic. The results show that drivers have adopted a more aggressive driving style than before the pandemic, especially women and those who have suffered anxiety due to COVID-19.5311-8814-F0ED | Sara Maria da Cruz Maia de Oliveira PaivaN/

Peptide Ligands Incorporated into the Threefold Spike Capsid Domain to Re-Direct Gene Transduction of AAV8 and AAV9 In Vivo

Efficiency and specificity of viral vectors are vital issues in gene therapy. Insertion of peptide ligands into the adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsid at receptor binding sites can re-target AAV2-derived vectors to alternative cell types. Also, the use of serotypes AAV8 and -9 is more efficient than AAV2 for gene transfer to certain tissues in vivo. Consequently, re-targeting of these serotypes by ligand insertion could be a promising approach but has not been explored so far. Here, we generated AAV8 and -9 vectors displaying peptides in the threefold spike capsid domain. These peptides had been selected from peptide libraries displayed on capsids of AAV serotype 2 to optimize systemic gene delivery to murine lung tissue and to breast cancer tissue in PymT transgenic mice (PymT). Such peptide insertions at position 590 of the AAV8 capsid and position 589 of the AAV9 capsid changed the transduction properties of both serotypes. However, both peptides inserted in AAV8 did not result in the same changes of tissue tropism as they did in AAV2. While the AAV2 peptides selected on murine lung tissue did not alter tropism of serotypes 8 and -9, insertion of the AAV2-derived peptide selected on breast cancer tissue augmented tumor gene delivery in both serotypes. Further, this peptide mediated a strong but unspecific in vivo gene transfer for AAV8 and abrogated transduction of various control tissues for AAV9. Our findings indicate that peptide insertion into defined sites of AAV8 and -9 capsids can change and improve their efficiency and specificity compared to their wild type variants and to AAV2, making these insertion sites attractive for the generation of novel targeted vectors in these serotypes

Experimental and Computational Studies of the Kinetics of the Reaction of Atomic Hydrogen with Methanethiol

Article on experimental and computational studies of the kinetics of the reaction of atomic hydrogen with methanethiol

Perceived readiness of BSPT student interns as to clinical internship during COVID-19 pandemic: a quantitative study

The COVID-19 Pandemic is one of the few Philippine phenomena that affected the country’s systematic way of handling different circumstances, including internships and medical consultation in the different health allied courses. It opened challenges and difficulties that affected different medical services, medical education and training, and its corresponding clinical settings, including the interns. The study’s main objective is to determine the perceived readiness of the BSPT Student Interns as to their Clinical Internship during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The researchers utilized a descriptive quantitative research design for this study. Through the use of the Likert Scale administered in Google Forms, the researchers were able to gather data from 52% of their target respondents, amounting to 56 out of 118. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data using the mean and standard deviation. The study obtained the demographic data of their respondents corresponding to age, gender, and section. The respondents of the study included student interns who underwent Home-Based Alternative Learning Modalities (HBALMS) and are expected to meet the course outcomes, specifically Lasallian Exemplar, Research, EBP and Lifelong Learning, Technological Innovation, Health Promotion and Professional Leadership, Ethical/Professional Competent Collaborative Patient/Client Management and Communication Skills and Metacognitive Thinking. Based on the results, the interns perceived themselves as ready to a very great extent across the different domains with Research, EBP and Lifelong Learning garnering the least result and Ethical/Professional and Competent Collaborative Patient/Client Management with the highest result of perceived readiness. To ensure credibility, it is highly recommended that an early implementation, adjustment of sample size and the sending of personal messages to the respondents should be utilized to maximize the number of possible respondents to participate in this study and result in the reduction of margin of error. In the future, the results of the study can be a basis for analyzing areas needed to be improved by interns, developing strategies to enhance their readiness, and applying these changes to achieve a better preparation for internship

Neuropeptide S is a stimulatory anxiolytic agent: a behavioural study in mice

Background and purpose. Neuropeptide S (NPS) was recently identified as the endogenous ligand of a previously orphan receptor now referred to as NPSR. In vivo, NPS produces a unique behavioral profile by increasing wakefulness and exerting anxiolytic-like effects. In the present study we further evaluated the in vivo effects of supraspinal NPS in mice. Experimental approach. We assessed, in mice, the effects of intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) injected NPS on locomotor activity (LA), righting reflex (RR) recovery, and on anxiety states measured with the elevated plus maze (EPM) and stress induced hyperthermia (SIH) tests. Key results. NPS (0.01 – 1 nmol per mouse) caused a significant increase in LA in naive mice, in mice habituated to the test cages, and in animals sedated with diazepam 5 mg kg-1. In the RR assay, NPS dose dependently reduced the percent of animals losing the RR in response to diazepam 15 mg kg-1 and their sleeping time. In the EPM and SIH test, NPS dose dependently evokes anxiolytic-like effects by increasing the time (s) spent by animals in the open arms and reducing the stress-induced hyperthermic response, respectively. Conclusions and Implications. We provide further evidence that NPS acts as a novel modulator of arousal and anxiety-related behaviors by promoting a unique pattern of effects: stimulation associated with anxiolysis. Therefore NPSR ligands may represent innovative drugs for the treatment of sleep and anxiety disorders

Neuropeptide S differently modulates alcohol-related behaviors in alcohol-preferring and non-preferring rats

Neuropeptide S (NPS) displays unique pharmacological properties and induces both anxiolytic and pro-stress/arousal activities. Previous studies performed using Wistar rats demonstrated that NPS facilitated alcohol and cocaine seeking but did not affect alcohol or cocaine consumption. OBJECTIVES: Here, we investigated the effects of NPS in Marchigian Sardinian alcohol-preferring (msP) rats, a rat strain characterized by excessive alcohol consumption comorbid with heightened anxiety and depressive-like phenotypes. Specifically, we evaluated the effect of NPS on operant alcohol self-administration by msP rats compared to Wistar rats. The effect of NPS on cue-induced reinstatement of alcohol seeking in msP rats was also evaluated. Finally, using the open field test (OFT) and the elevated plus maze (EPM), we evaluated the effects of NPS on locomotor activity and anxiety. RESULTS: NPS reduced alcohol self-administration but did not affect cue-induced reinstatement in the msP rat. In addition, NPS induced reinstatement of extinguished alcohol seeking in Wistar rats without affecting alcohol intake. In the EPM task, NPS, in accordance with its anxiolytic activity, increased the time spent in the open arm of the arena by msP rats, although this effect was not observed in Wistar rats. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the effect of NPS is strongly influenced by the genetic background of the animal. In Wistar rats, NPS acts as a pro-arousal agent to promote the reinstatement of alcohol seeking. However, when alcohol drinking is motivated by or associated with a state of pathological anxiety, NPS attenuates alcohol consumption and seeking due to its anxiolytic activity