Diagnostic and methodological evaluation of studies on the urinary shedding of SARS-CoV-2, compared to stool and serum: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Investigating the infectivity of body fluid can be useful for preventative measures in the community and ensuring safety in the operating rooms and on the laboratory practices. We performed a literature search of clinical trials, cohorts, and case series using PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library, and downloadable database of CDC. We excluded case reports and searched all-language articles for review and repeated until the final drafting. The search protocol was registered in the PROSPERO database. Thirty studies with urinary sampling for viral shedding were included. A total number of 1,271 patients were enrolled initially, among which 569 patients had undergone urinary testing. Nine studies observed urinary viral shedding in urine from 41 patients. The total incidence of urinary SARS-CoV-2 shedding was 8, compared to 21.3 and 39.5 for blood and stool, respectively. The summarized risk ratio (RR) estimates for urine positive rates compared to the pharyngeal rate was 0.08. The pertaining RR urine compared to blood and stool positive rates were 0.20 and 0.33, respectively. Our review concludes that not only the SARS-CoV-2 can be excreted in the urine in eight percent of patients but also its incidence may have associations with the severity of the systemic disease, ICU admission, and fatality rates. Moreover, the findings in our review suggest that a larger population size may reveal more positive urinary cases possibly by minimizing biases

Active HHV-6 Infection of Cerebellar Purkinje Cells in Mood Disorders

Early-life infections and associated neuroinflammation is incriminated in the pathogenesis of various mood disorders. Infection with human roseoloviruses, HHV-6A and HHV-6B, allows viral latency in the central nervous system and other tissues, which can later be activated causing cognitive and behavioral disturbances. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate possible association of HHV-6A and HHV-6B activation with three different groups of psychiatric patients. DNA qPCR, immunofluorescence and FISH studies were carried out in post-mortem posterior cerebellum from 50 cases each of bipolar disorder (BPD), schizophrenia, 15 major depressive disorder (MDD) and 50 appropriate control samples obtained from two well-known brain collections (Stanley Medical Research Institute). HHV-6A and HHV-6B late proteins (indicating active infection) and viral DNA were detected more frequently (p < 0.001 for each virus) in human cerebellum in MDD and BPD relative to controls. These roseolovirus proteins and DNA were found less frequently in schizophrenia cases. Active HHV-6A and HHV-6B infection in cerebellar Purkinje cells were detected frequently in BPD and MDD cases. Furthermore, we found a significant association of HHV-6A infection with reduced Purkinje cell size, suggesting virus-mediated abnormal Purkinje cell function in these disorders. Finally, gene expression analysis of cerebellar tissue revealed changes in pathways reflecting an inflammatory response possibly to HHV-6A infection. Our results provide molecular evidence to support a role for active HHV-6A and HHV-6B infection in BPD and MDD

The effect of prenatal maternal inflammation on cerebeller stripe organization of offspring

Bibliography: p. 88-95Some pages are in colour

Enfragmo: A System for Grounding Extended First-Order Logic to SAT

Computationally hard search and optimization problems occur widely in engineering, business, science and logistics, in domains ranging from hardware and software design and verification, to drug design, planning and scheduling. Most of these problems are NP-complete, so no known polynomial-time algorithms exist. Usually, the available solution for a user facing such problems involves mathematical programming for example, integer-linear programming tools, constraint logic programming tools and development of custom-designed implementations of algorithms for solving NP-hard problems. Successful use of these approaches normally requires a deep knowledge of programming, and is often time consuming. Another approach to attack NP search problems is to utilize the knowledge of users to produce precise descriptions of the (search) problem in a declarative specification or modelling language. A solver then takes a specification, together with an instance of the problem, and produces a solution to the problem, if there is any. Model expansion (MX), the logical task of expanding a given (mathematical) structure by new relations, is one of the well-studied directions of this approach. Formally, in MX, the user axiomatizes their problem in a language. This axiomatization describes the relationship between an instance of the problem (a given finite structure, i.e., a universe together with some relations and functions), and its solutions (certain expansions of that structure). This thesis presents the Enfragmo system for specifying and solving combinatorial search problems. Enfragmo takes a problem specification, in which the axioms are expressed in an extension of first-order logic, and a problem instance as its input and produces a propositional conjunctive normal form formula that is sent to a propositional satisfiability (SAT) solver. In this thesis, we describe several techniques that we have developed in order to build our well performing solver, Enfragmo

CyberSession: a new proposition for e-learning in collaborative virtual environments

E-Learning in fact is another type of learning process through the integration of technology and is perceived as learning via a web browser, over the web or an intranet network. E-Learning in the context of 3D virtual environments promises better performance in the light of new trends for 3D environments among users. This paper presents the design and first steps to the implementation of a collaborative environment representing course materials through web3D technologies. It highlights the unique ability to run in low bandwidth by simulating user input and transforming work forces into a knowledge resource. In our framework, nicknamed CyberSession, users can switch between 2D and 3D environments to support synchronous training, asynchronous training and collaborative training systems

Photodynamic viral inactivation assisted by photosensitizers

The deadly viruses, which are spreading worldwide at an alarming rate, are a major challenge for the life sciences. More efficient and cost-effective methods with fewer side effects can provide a good alternative to traditional drug-based methods. Currently, physical phenomena such as light in the form of photodynamic action are increasingly being used to inactivate viruses. Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) uses a photosensitizer (PS), light, and oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to inactivate microorganisms. This article reviews the use of existing PSs, as one of the essential anti-viral agents, and introduces new materials and strategies combined with PDI. Physiochemical properties of PSs and their role in interaction with virus components are discussed. Furthermore, the effectiveness of optical sensitizers with radiation methods to inactivate viruses is highlighted

Viral inactivation by light.

Nowadays, viral infections are one of the greatest challenges for medical sciences and human society. While antiviral compounds and chemical inactivation remain inadequate, physical approaches based on irradiation provide new potentials for prevention and treatment of viral infections, without the risk of drug resistance and other unwanted side effects. Light across the electromagnetic spectrum can inactivate the virions using ionizing and non-ionizing radiations. This review highlights the anti-viral utility of radiant methods from the aspects of ionizing radiation, including high energy ultraviolet, gamma ray, X-ray, and neutron, and non-ionizing photo-inactivation, including lasers and blue light