Midiendo la carga emocional: Análisis de las emociones presentes en contenido de tweets sobre COVID-19 en Lima

During the state of emergency and quarantines implemented by world leaders, there has been a significant increase in people's activity on social networks, such as Twitter, where they share opinions and emotionally charged news. In this study, we present a visualization tool for sentiment analysis in tweets related to COVID-19 in the city of Lima, Peru, during the year 2020. For this purpose, we train a BERT model called BETO, specifically designed for natural language processing in Spanish. We used the SenWave dataset, comprising 11 emotions, to train the model. Subsequently, we validate the model using a dataset composed of 33,770 tweets collected in the city of Lima, Peru. The result of our study is an interactive dashboard showing the flow of sentiments expressed in the analyzed tweets. Our findings reveal that the three most frequent emotions during 2020 were: humor, boredom and optimism. In addition, we identified the five most popular words used in the tweets: contagion, health, distancing, isolation and Martín Vizcarra, referring to the former president of Peru.Durante el estado de emergencia y las cuarentenas implementadas por los líderes mundiales, se ha observado un aumento significativo en la actividad de las personas en las redes sociales, como Twitter, donde comparten opiniones y noticias cargadas de emociones. En este estudio, presentamos una herramienta de visualización para el análisis de sentimientos en tweets relacionados con COVID-19 en la ciudad de Lima, Perú, durante el año 2020. Para ello, entrenamos un modelo BERT llamado BETO, diseñado específicamente para el procesamiento de lenguaje natural en español. Utilizamos el conjunto de datos SenWave, que comprende 11 emociones, para entrenar el modelo. Posteriormente, validamos el modelo utilizando un conjunto de datos compuesto por 33,770 tweets recolectados en la ciudad de Lima, Perú. El resultado de nuestro estudio es un panel de control interactivo que muestra el flujo de sentimientos expresados en los tweets analizados. Nuestros hallazgos revelan que las tres emociones más frecuentes durante el año 2020 fueron: humor, aburrimiento y optimismo. Además, identificamos las cinco palabras más populares utilizadas en los tweets: contagio, salud, distanciamiento, aislamiento y Martín Vizcarra, en referencia al expresidente del Perú

Investigation on the Protective Effect of α-Mannan against the DNA Damage Induced by Aflatoxin B1 in Mouse Hepatocytes

Aflatoxin B1 is a contaminant of agricultural and dairy products that can be related to mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. In this report we explore the capacity of α-mannan (Man) to reduce the DNA damage induced by AFB1 in mouse hepatocytes. For this purpose we applied the comet assay to groups of animals which were first administered Man (100, 400 and 700 mg/kg, respectively) and 20 min later 1.0 mg/kg of AFB1. Liver cells were obtained at 4, 10, and 16 h after the chemical administration and examined. The results showed no protection of the damage induced by AFB1 with the low dose of the polysaccharide, but they did reveal antigenotoxic activity exerted by the two high doses. In addition, we induced a co-crystallization between both compounds, determined their fusion points and analyzed the molecules by UV spectroscopy. The obtained data suggested the formation of a supramolecular complex between AFB1 and Man

The small molecule inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro EDP-235 prevents viral replication and transmission in vivo

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the deaths of millions of people and severe global economic impacts. Small molecule therapeutics have played an important role in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, but their efficacy has been limited in scope and availability, with many people unable to access their benefits, and better options are needed. EDP-235 is specifically designed to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro, with potent nanomolar activity against all SARS-CoV-2 variants to date, as well as clinically relevant human and zoonotic coronaviruses. EDP-235 maintains potency against variants bearing mutations associated with nirmatrelvir resistance. Additionally, EDP-235 demonstrates a ≥ 500-fold selectivity index against multiple host proteases. In a male Syrian hamster model of COVID-19, EDP-235 suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication and viral-induced hamster lung pathology. In a female ferret model, EDP-235 inhibits production of SARS-CoV-2 infectious virus and RNA at multiple anatomical sites. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2 contact transmission does not occur when naïve ferrets are co-housed with infected, EDP-235-treated ferrets. Collectively, these results demonstrate that EDP-235 is a broad-spectrum coronavirus inhibitor with efficacy in animal models of primary infection and transmission