Association of RT-qPCR Ct Values and Disease Severity among COVID-19 Patients Visiting a Tertiary Care Hospital in Nepal

COVID-19 pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 has been one of the major global health issues of this aeon. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold (Ct) values with multiple factors among COVID-19 patients visiting a tertiary care hospital in Sudurpashchim province of Nepal. A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of randomly selected COVID-19 cases among the total RT-qPCR tested patients from March 2020 to April 2022. The Ct values at the time of patient admission and their clinical outcomes (discharge or death) were compared. Among the COVID-19 patients, survivor group had significantly higher initial Ct value compared to non-survivors [median Ct values 23.21 and 24.39 (P < 0.0001)]. Selected haematological parameters; white blood cells (P<001), neutrophils (P<001), and monocytes (P<0.0001), and all the biochemical parameters were significantly different between these two groups (p < 0.005). Furthermore, significantly increased CRP (61.54±63.00, P<0.0017), D-dimer levels (0.8979± 1.480, P<0.0001), creatinine (0.7931±0.2551, P<0.0001), monocytes (0.6782±0.7981, P<0.0001), and random blood sugar (152.4±34.32, P<0.0001) were observed among non-survivors indicating as cause of disease severity in COVID-19. The findings of this study imply that the Ct value, CRP and D-dimer levels could be a crucial marker for the early detection of severe COVID-19 patients or those at higher risk of developing severe disease. This will eventually help to identify cases requiring immediate and critical medical care and reduce mortality

Fulminant hepatic failure due to hepatitis E virus

This article does not have an abstract

BMI1 is expressed in canine osteosarcoma and contributes to cell growth and chemotherapy resistance.

BMI1, a stem cell factor and member of the polycomb group of genes, has been shown to contribute to growth and chemoresistance of several human malignancies including primary osteosarcoma (OSA). Naturally occurring OSA in the dog represents a large animal model of human OSA, however the potential role of BMI1 in canine primary and metastatic OSA has not been examined. Immunohistochemical staining of canine primary and metastatic OSA tumors revealed strong nuclear expression of BMI1. An identical staining pattern was found in both primary and metastatic human OSA tissues. Canine OSA cell lines (Abrams, Moresco, and D17) expressed high levels of BMI1 compared with canine osteoblasts and knockdown or inhibition of BMI1 by siRNA or by small molecule BMI1-inhibitor PTC-209 demonstrated a role for BMI1 in canine OSA cell growth and resistance to carboplatin and doxorubicin chemotherapy. These findings suggest that inhibition of BMI1 in primary or metastatic OSA may improve response to chemotherapy and that the dog may serve as a large animal model to evaluate such therapy

Public policy for social and solidarity economy: a case study from Nepal

Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) has been embraced in Nepal as a source of decent jobs/enterprise for social economy (larger than household economy) as well as for national economy. The social solidarity economy has recently emerged in Nepal; however, its application dates back to the ancient past entrenched with indigenous institutions/cultures. It has been rooted particularly in rural and suburb areas as a resilient response against prevalent poverty, subsistence economy and casual hegemonies. Informal ways of exchanging goods and services (barter system), extending unconditional help to helpless, free-of-interest-borrowings among kith and kin, collective responsibility of performing rituals such as marriage, funerals and some unavoidable cultural and religious functions are still prevalent in various parts and among various ethnic and tribal groups of Nepal. Most of these practices have now institutionalized into SSE organizations as cooperatives, fair trade groups, user groups, federations and social enterprises, however almost of them are in infancy stages and sought to be capacitated. Strengthening partnerships between social and solidarity economy actors, civil society movements and government has largely been recognized and urged globally as a smooth pace for social and solidarity economy to reach its potential. In this context, an attempt to catalogue the social solidarity economy attributes of Nepal is important before aims at capacitating and strengthening them

Effect of PTC-209 treatment on viability of canine OSA cell lines.

<p>MTT assay showing dose dependent decreases in cell viability following 72hrs of PTC-209 treatment. Absorbance data is shown as a percent of untreated (UT) control cells. Error bars reflect SD and statistical analysis was performed using 2-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. p-values reflect significance as compared to vehicle control.** p<0.01, **** p<0.0001.</p

Expression of BMI1 mRNA and protein following siRNA knockdown in canine Abrams OSA cells.

<p>(A) Fold increase in mRNA expression in Neg siRNA, BMI1 siRNA-1, and BMI1 siRNA-2 transfected samples relative to untreated samples. Compared to the negative control siRNA, both BMI1 siRNA-1 and siRNA-2 show a trend for decreased BMI1 mRNA expression, although only the BMI1 siRNA-1 treated samples showed statistical significance. Error bars represent SD and statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test. *p<0.05 (B) Similarly, Western Blot Analysis confirmed that both siRNA-1 and siRNA-2 transfected cells expressed lower levels of BMI1 protein when compared to the Neg siRNA treated cells. BMI1 band densities were calculated, normalized to GAPDH, and displayed as a percent change in expression relative to Neg siRNA control.</p

Semiquantitative expression analysis of BMI1 in canine primary and metastatic OSA.

<p>The relative percentage of BMI1 expressing cells was measured in OSA samples derived from 33 canine patients. Following IHC with the anti-BMI1 antibody, cells with visible nuclear staining were scored as positive. MC = male castrated, FS = female spayed, NEG = no staining detected.</p><p>Semiquantitative expression analysis of BMI1 in canine primary and metastatic OSA.</p

IHC analysis of BMI1 expression in human OSA.

<p>Representative images of BMI1 expression and corresponding H&E staining in human OSA tissue microarray samples corresponding to cases 4, 17, and 26 from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0131006#pone.0131006.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>. Similar to canine tissues, BMI1 staining of human OSA tissues was intense and localized to the nucleus.</p

IHC analysis of BMI1 expression in canine lymph node, OSA, and adjacent normal bone.

<p>Representative images of BMI1 expression and corresponding H&E staining in canine normal adjacent bone, normal lymph node, and two canine OSA tissues corresponding to cases 18 and 4 from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0131006#pone.0131006.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. Nuclear staining was visualized in adjacent normal bone. Canine lymph node demonstrated variable nuclear staining of individual lymphocytes and served as a positive control. BMI1 staining of canine OSA tissues was also localized to the nucleus and varied in intensity.</p