Physical Health-Related Quality of Life Improves over Time in Post-COVID-19 Patients: An Exploratory Prospective Study

(1) Background: Ongoing symptoms after mild or moderate acute coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) substantially affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, follow-up data on HRQoL are scarce. We characterized the change in HRQoL over time in post-COVID-19 patients who initially suffered from mild or moderate acute COVID-19 without hospitalization. (2) Methods: Outpatients who visited an interdisciplinary post-COVID-19 consultation at the University Hospital Zurich and suffered from ongoing symptoms after acute COVID-19 were included in this observational study. HRQoL was assessed using established questionnaires. Six months after baseline, the same questionnaires and a self-constructed questionnaire about the COVID-19 vaccination were distributed. (3) Results: In total, 69 patients completed the follow-up, of whom 55 (80%) were female. The mean (SD) age was 44 (12) years and the median (IQR) time from symptom onset to completing the follow-up was 326 (300, 391) days. The majority of patients significantly improved in EQ-5D-5L health dimensions of mobility, usual activities, pain and anxiety. Furthermore, according to the SF-36, patients showed clinically relevant improvements in physical health, whereas no significant change was found regarding mental health. (4) Conclusions: Physical aspects of HRQoL in post-COVID-19 patients relevantly improved over 6 months. Future studies are needed to focus on potential predictors that allow for establishing individual care and early interventions

Impaired health-related quality of life in long-COVID syndrome after mild to moderate COVID-19

A growing number of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infections experience long-lasting symptoms. Even patients who suffered from a mild acute infection show a variety of persisting and debilitating neurocognitive, respiratory, or cardiac symptoms (Long-Covid syndrome), consequently leading to limitations in everyday life. Because data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is scarce, we aimed to characterize the impact of Long-Covid symptoms after a mild or moderate acute infection on HRQoL. In this observational study, outpatients seeking counseling in the interdisciplinary Post-Covid consultation of the University Hospital Zurich with symptoms persisting for more than 4 weeks were included. Patients who received an alternative diagnosis or suffered from a severe acute Covid-19 infection were excluded. St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Euroquol-5D-5L (EQ-5D-5L), and the Short form 36 (SF-36) were distributed to assess HRQoL. 112 patients were included, 86 (76.8%) were female, median (IQR) age was 43 (32.0, 52.5) years with 126 (91, 180) days of symptoms. Patients suffered frequently from fatigue (81%), concentration difficulties (60%), and dyspnea (60%). Patients mostly stated impairment in performing usual activities and having pain/discomfort or anxiety out of the EQ-5D-5L. EQ index value and SGRQ activity score component were significantly lower in females. SF-36 scores showed remarkably lower scores in the physical health domain compared to the Swiss general population before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Long-Covid syndrome has a substantial impact on HRQoL. Long-term surveillance of patients must provide clarity on the duration of impairments in physical and mental health.Trial registration: The study is registered on www.ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04793269

Augmentation Index in Patients with Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm: A Matched Case-Control Study

Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) may be associated with complications such as rupture and dissection, which can lead to a fatal outcome. Increased central arterial stiffness has been proposed to be present in patients with TAA compared to unmatched controls. We aimed to assess whether wall properties in patients with TAA are also altered when compared to a matched control group. Applanation tonometry was performed in 74 adults with TAA and 74 sex, age, weight, height, and left ventricular ejection fraction matched controls. Subsequently analysis of the pulse wave was done using the SphygmoCor System. For comparing the two groups, AIx was adjusted to a heart rate of 75/min (AIx@75). 148 1-to-1 matched participants were included in the final model. There was no significant difference in the Alx@75 between the TAA group and the matched control group [mean (SD) of 24.7 (11.2) % and 22.8 (11.2) %, p = 0.240]. Adjusted for known cardiovascular risk factors, there was no association between TAA and AIx@75. Patients with TAA showed comparable arterial wall properties to cardiovascular risk factor matched controls. Since higher arterial stiffness is associated with TAA progression, it remains to be investigated if increased central arterial stiffness is a relevant factor of TAA emergence. Keywords: thoracic aortic aneurysm; augmentation index; arterial stiffnes

Genetics and the Archaeology of Ancient Israel

This paper is a call for DNA testing on ancient skeletal materials from the southern Levant to begin to database genetic information of the inhabitants of this crossroads region. Archaeologists and biblical historians view the earliest presence in the region of a group that called itself Israel in the Iron I period, traditionally dated to ca. 1200-1000 BCE. These were in villages in the varied hill countries of the region, contemporary with urban settlements in the coastal plains, inland valleys, and central Hill Country attributed to varied indigenous groups collectively called Canaanite. The remnants of Egyptian imperial presence in the region lasted until around 1150 BCE, postdating the arrival of an immigrant group from the Aegean called the Philistines ca. 1175 BCE. The period that follows the Iron I in the southern Levant is marked by the development of territorial states throughout the region, ca. 1000-800 BCE. These patrimonial kingdoms, including the United Kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of northern Israel and Judah, coalesced varied peoples under central leadership and newly founded administrative and religious bureaucracies. Ancient DNA testing will give us a further refined understanding of the individuals who peopled the region of the southern Levant throughout its varied archaeological and historic periods, and put forward scientific data that will support, refute, or nuance our socio-historic reconstruction of ancient group identities. These social identities may or may not map onto genetic data, and without sampling of ancient DNA we may never know. A database of ancient DNA will also allow for comparisons with modern DNA samples collected throughout the greater region and the Mediterranean littoral, giving a more robust understanding of the long historical trajectories of regional human genetics and the genetics of varied ancestral groups of today’s Jewish populations and other cultural groups in the modern Middle East and Mediterranean

Effect of Temperature Gradient Direction in the Catalyst Nanoparticle on CNTs Growth Mode

To improve the understanding on CNT growth modes, the various processes, including thermal CVD, MP-CVD and ECR-CVD, have been used to deposit CNTs on nanoporous SBA-15 and Si wafer substrates with C2H2 and H2 as reaction gases. The experiments to vary process parameter of ΔT, defined as the vector quantities of temperature at catalyst top minus it at catalyst bottom, were carried out to demonstrate its effect on the CNT growth mode. The TEM and TGA analyses were used to characterize their growth modes and carbon yields of the processes. The results show that ΔT can be used to monitor the temperature gradient direction across the catalyst nanoparticle during the growth stage of CNTs. The results also indicate that the tip-growth CNTs, base-growth CNTs and onion-like carbon are generally fabricated under conditions of ΔT > 0, <0 and ~0, respectively. Our proposed growth mechanisms can be successfully adopted to explain why the base- and tip-growth CNTs are common in thermal CVD and plasma-enhanced CVD processes, respectively. Furthermore, our experiments have also successfully demonstrated the possibility to vary ΔT to obtain the desired growth mode of CNTs by thermal or plasma-enhanced CVD systems for different applications