Changes in SARS-CoV-2 viral load and mortality during the initial wave of the pandemic in New York City

Funding: This work was partially supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (UL1 TR0023484 to Julianne Imperato-McGinley) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (UM1 AI069470 to M.E.S).Public health interventions such as social distancing and mask wearing decrease the incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, but it is unclear whether they decrease the viral load of infected patients and whether changes in viral load impact mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We evaluated 6923 patients with COVID-19 at six New York City hospitals from March 15-May 14, 2020, corresponding with the implementation of public health interventions in March. We assessed changes in cycle threshold (CT) values from reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests and in-hospital mortality and modeled the impact of viral load on mortality. Mean CT values increased between March and May, with the proportion of patients with high viral load decreasing from 47.7% to 7.8%. In-hospital mortality increased from 14.9% in March to 28.4% in early April, and then decreased to 8.7% by May. Patients with high viral loads had increased mortality compared to those with low viral loads (adjusted odds ratio 2.34). If viral load had not declined, an estimated 69 additional deaths would have occurred (5.8% higher mortality). SARS-CoV-2 viral load steadily declined among hospitalized patients in the setting of public health interventions, and this correlated with decreases in mortality.Peer reviewe

“University, Sustainability, and Reputation: Sustainability as a Strategic and Reputational Pillar in the Fifth Generation of Universities - Case Studies of the University of Manchester (United Kingdom) and the HSE University (Russia)”

This thesis aims to investigate the influence of sustainability on the reputation of universities, employing a comparative case study approach that centers on two renowned institutions recognized for their commitment to social responsibility: the University of Manchester in the UK and HSE University in Russia. The research methodology involves the utilization of qualitative data, gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with experts and relevant stakeholders from both universities. In addition, web scanning, analysis of annual reports, and examination of non-financial sustainability reports are employed as data collection techniques

Contextualizing the Cassese Report: the dictatorship that changed the United Nations human rights system and its legacy in monitoring economic, social and cultural rights

This chapter explains the key reasons underpinning the low impact of the Cassese Report on foreign aid and its relationship with human rights violations in Chile during Pinochet's dictatorship. Through the lenses of the intergovernmental decisions establishing the mandates and scope of competences of special procedures, the analysis demonstrates the absence of political will to equate the importance granted to civil and political rights with that granted to economic, social and cultural rights. The progress to mitigate this imbalance since the time of publication of the Cassese Report has been quantitative rather than qualitative. While economic, social and cultural rights have gained prominence over the years, most advances remain insufficient, especially regarding the role of business in human rights abuses. As long as the political decisions adopted within the human rights monitoring system do not implement the indivisibility of all rights, it will be very difficult to achieve substantial progress in this field

An overview of human rights instruments to raise concerns about trade and investment polices.

The promise of human rights posits the legal recognition of the de facto and de jure equality of every individual human being, irrespective of their gender, race, ethnicity or other personal or group identifiers. This simple idea was premised on the need to ensure respect for communities by protecting their rights against encroachment, and in seeking ways to promote their different identities should there be agreement to seek such protection within the group. The location of the discourse of human rights within the discipline of law was important: it articulated the need for justice over order and suggested the need for a fulcrum of a legal formulation of equality and non-discrimination. Sixty years after the passage of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights the realization of this dream of equality remains distant, which could be attributed to an overt emphasis on the civil and political components of human rights rather than an all-encompassing indivisible approach that focuses on the economic, social and cultural alongside the civil and political aspects. At the international level, human rights have an added value: they are the axiological horizon of rules governing relationships between international subjects. The lack of global solidarity towards their general realization is reflected in the paucity of structures and political will to effectively combat global inequalities, fight extreme poverty and set up a fairer international economic order. Only the international regime of human rights offers some binding international standards to infuse ethical values in the relationships regulated by international law