RAAS Inhibitors and Risk of Covid-19.

Letter to the edito

COVID-19, seasonal influenza and measles: potential triple burden and the role of flu and MMR vaccines

Policy interventions aimed at reducing person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (such as hand hygiene, physical distancing and wearing face coverings) were implemented globally to minimise healthcare burden, and to allow more time for an effective treatment and successful vaccine. After months of ‘lockdown’, many countries started to ease these measures recently only to see a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. During the winter of 2020–2021, we face the prospect of a dual burden of a COVID-19 pandemic and a seasonal influenza epidemic.3 However, what’s not being currently discussed is that the burden on healthcare could be further compounded by a potential surge of measles and rubella cases. This is due to: (1) a declining trend in Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine coverage accompanied by an increasing trend in Measles-Mumps-Rubella cases since 2016;4 and (2) disruption and suspension of Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccination campaigns in 23 countries to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic

Uses and abuses of real-world data in generating evidence during a pandemic.

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic and called for immediate collaborative initiatives for faster access to available data, with a view to generating robust research evidence informing global and local public health policy.1 This urgency has helped a number of national bodies to secure data and their linkages and to provide safe analytical environment for researches to ask important questions, including pseudonymised data linkages, high-throughput computing environment, and access and authentication processes with clear information governance.2,3 Linkages of multiple sources of clinical data within a trusted environment are being granted at a rapid pace and there is a greater provision of access to COVID-19 studies, improved collaboration, expedited governance and ethical approval of studies.4 Some organisations have also been proactive in getting groups together to work collaboratively on relevant research questions which will rapidly benefit clinical care and public health alike

Additional file 1: of Translation, cultural adaptation and validation of the English “Short form SF 12v2” into Bengali in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Bengali SF 12v2 Health Survey. (PDF 189 kb

Selective Trapping of Labile S₃ in a Porous Coordination Network and the Direct X‑ray Observation

S₃ is one of the basic allotropes of sulfur but is still a mysterious labile species. We selectively trapped S₃ in a pore of a thermally stable coordination network and determined S₃ structure by <i>ab initio</i> X-ray powder diffraction analysis. S₃ in a pore has a <i>C</i>_2<i>v</i> bent structure. The network containing trapped S₃ is remarkably stable under ambient conditions and is inert to photoirradiation. S₃ in the network could be transformed to S₆ by mechanical grinding or heating in the presence of NH₄X (X = Cl or Br). S₆ could be reverse-transformed to S₃ by photoirradiation. We also determined the structure of the network containing S₆ by <i>ab initio</i> X-ray powder diffraction analysis

Selective Trapping of Labile S₃ in a Porous Coordination Network and the Direct X‑ray Observation

S₃ is one of the basic allotropes of sulfur but is still a mysterious labile species. We selectively trapped S₃ in a pore of a thermally stable coordination network and determined S₃ structure by <i>ab initio</i> X-ray powder diffraction analysis. S₃ in a pore has a <i>C</i>_2<i>v</i> bent structure. The network containing trapped S₃ is remarkably stable under ambient conditions and is inert to photoirradiation. S₃ in the network could be transformed to S₆ by mechanical grinding or heating in the presence of NH₄X (X = Cl or Br). S₆ could be reverse-transformed to S₃ by photoirradiation. We also determined the structure of the network containing S₆ by <i>ab initio</i> X-ray powder diffraction analysis

COVID-19 mortality: A complex interplay of sex, gender, and ethnicity.

Several studies have reported a higher rate of COVID-19 mortality in men.1–3 A higher rate of COVID-19 mortality has also been reported in Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups,3–5 especially among healthcare providers.6The exact reasons for these disparities are not known but may be due to differential susceptibility based on biological sex,7 as well as gender differences in health behaviours (e.g. smoking) giving rise to differences in comorbidities (e.g. cardiovascular disease) that increase the risk of COVID-19 mortality in men.8 However, there are social influences that could influence gender differences in exposure and infection; e.g., women are more likely to be involved in service sector work/healthcare; men are more involved in other high-risk jobs such as drivers.3,8 In regards to ethnic differences, people from BAME background may be more likely to be in the frontline, exposed, jobs; they may be more likely to live in crowded multi-generation households making it challenging to maintain physical distancing from elderly family members. [Taken from introduction]</div

Synthesis and Toxicological Evaluation of a Chitosan‑l‑Leucine Conjugate for Pulmonary Drug Delivery Applications

Herein are reported the synthesis of a conjugate of chitosan with l-leucine, the preparation of nanoparticles from both chitosan and the conjugate for use in pulmonary drug delivery, and the in vitro evaluation of toxicity and inflammatory effects of both the polymers and their nanoparticles on the bronchial epithelial cell line, BEAS-2B. The nanoparticles, successfully prepared both from chitosan and the conjugate, had a diameter in the range of 10–30 nm. The polymers and their nanoparticles were tested for their effects on cell viability by MTT assay, on trans-epithelial permeability by using sodium fluorescein as a fluid phase marker, and on IL-8 secretion by ELISA. The conjugate nanoparticles had a low overall toxicity (IC₅₀ = 2 mg/mL following 48 h exposure; no induction of IL-8 release at 0.5 mg/mL concentration), suggesting that they may be safe for pulmonary drug delivery applications

Proteomics of Nitrogen Remobilization in Poplar Bark

Seasonal nitrogen (N) cycling in temperate deciduous trees involves the accumulation of bark storage proteins (BSPs) in phloem parenchyma and xylem ray cells. BSPs are anabolized using recycled N during autumn leaf senescence and later become a source of N during spring shoot growth as they are catabolized. Little is known about the catabolic processes involved in remobilization and reutilization of N from BSPs in trees. In this study, we used multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) and spectral counting to identify protein changes that occur in the bark during BSP catabolism. A total of 4,178 proteins were identified from bark prior to and during BSP catabolism. The majority (62%) of the proteins were found during BSP catabolism, indicating extensive remodeling of the proteome during renewed shoot growth and N remobilization. Among these proteins were 30 proteases, the relative abundances of which increased during BSP catabolism. These proteases spanned a range of families including members of the papain-like cysteine proteases, serine carboxypeptidases, and aspartyl proteases. These data identify, for the first time, candidate proteases that could potentially provide hydrolase activity required for N remobilization from BSPs and provide the foundation for research to advance our knowledge of poplar N cycling

<i>Riemerella anatipestifer</i> UvrC is required for iron utilization, biofilm formation and virulence

UvrC is a subunit of excinuclease ABC, which mediates nucleotide excision repair (NER) in bacteria. Our previous studies showed that transposon Tn4531 insertion in the UvrC encoding gene Riean_1413 results in reduced biofilm formation by Riemerella anatipestifer strain CH3 and attenuates virulence of strain YZb1. In this study, whether R. anatipestifer UvrC has some biological functions other than NER was investigated. Firstly, the uvrC of R. anatipestifer strain Yb2 was in-frame deleted by homologous recombination, generating deletion mutant ΔuvrC, and its complemented strain cΔuvrC was constructed based on Escherichia coli – R. anatipestifer shuttle plasmid pRES. Compared to the wild-type (WT) R. anatipestifer strain Yb2, uvrC deleted mutant ΔuvrC significantly reduced biofilm formation, tolerance to H2O2- and HOCl-induced oxidative stress, iron utilization, and adhesion to and invasion of duck embryonic hepatocytes, but not its growth curve and proteolytic activity. In addition, animal experiments showed that the LD50 value of ΔuvrC in ducklings was about 13-fold higher than that of the WT, and the bacterial loads in ΔuvrC infected ducklings were significantly lower than those in Yb2-infected ducklings, indicating uvrC deletion in R. anatipestifer attenuated virulence. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that R. anatipestifer UvrC is required for iron utilization, biofilm formation, oxidative stress tolerance and virulence of strain Yb2, demonstrating multiple functions of UvrC. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSDeletion of uvrC in R. anatipestfer Yb2 significantly reduced its biofilm formation.uvrC deletion led to reduced tolerance to H2O2- and HOCl-induced oxidative stress.The iron utilization of uvrC deleted mutant was significantly reduced.The uvrC deletion in R. anatipestifer Yb2 attenuated its virulence. Deletion of uvrC in R. anatipestfer Yb2 significantly reduced its biofilm formation. uvrC deletion led to reduced tolerance to H2O2- and HOCl-induced oxidative stress. The iron utilization of uvrC deleted mutant was significantly reduced. The uvrC deletion in R. anatipestifer Yb2 attenuated its virulence.</p