Is the daily use of public transport facilities an enhanced epidemiological risk for diagnosing COVID-19 among healthcare workers with mild respiratory symptoms?

Introduction: Many people in Switzerland think that the daily use of the public transport facilities, during a pandemic peak wave, could be associated with an enhanced risk for Covid-19. Objectives: To investigate the association between the daily use of the public transport and acquisition of Covid-19 in Zurch during a peak wave of the pandemics. Methods: Retrospective cohort analysis of hospital-own databases at the Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich, between 1 October and 31 December 2020. We specifically interviewed our healthcare workers (HCW) about the use of public transport (with mandatory masking). Results: During the three most intensive months of the 2nd wave, we investigated 376 episodes of Covid-19-compatible respiratory symptoms and exposures among our HCW (median age 37 years), of which 94 (25%) revealed a positive PCR result for Covid-19. Overall, 225 HCW (225/376;60%) reportedly used the public transport (train, bus, tramway). In group comparison, the HCWs using the public transport system acquired no more Covid-19 than using a private transport (58/225 vs. 36/151;Pearson-chi2-test;p = 0.67). We added a logistic regression model with the outcome “Covid-19 infection” to adjust for the case-mix of different localizations or opportunities of potential contamination such as a documented exposure in the hospital, among the team members, in the family, or after a close contact to a PCR-confirmed case. In the multivariate results, using the public transport was irrelevant concerning the acquisition of Covid- 19 (odds ratio (OR) 0.98, 95%CI 0.59-1.62), in contrast, for example, to being exposed to a sick team member (OR 2.28, 95%CI 1.20-4.34). Conclusion: In Zurich, the daily use of public transport was not associated with an additional risk of being diagnosed with Covid-19 among the young population of HCWs, not even during the peak of a pandemic wave. Other factors are more relevant

Cooperative human robot interaction systems: IV. Communication of shared plans with Naïve humans using gaze and speech

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Red-giant and main-sequence solar-like oscillators in binary systems revealed by ESA Gaia Data Release 3 -- Reconstructing stellar and orbital evolution from binary-star ensemble seismology

Binary systems constitute a valuable astrophysics tool for testing our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Systems containing a oscillating component are interesting as asteroseismology offers independent parameters for the oscillating component that aid the analysis. About 150 of such systems are known in the literature. To enlarge the sample of these benchmark objects, we crossmatch the Two-Body-Orbit Catalogue (TBO) of Gaia DR3, with catalogs of confirmed solar-like oscillators on the main-sequence and red-giant phase from NASA Kepler and TESS. We obtain 954 new binary system candidates hosting solar-like oscillators, of which 45 and 909 stars are on the main sequence and red-giant, resp., including 2 new red giants in eclipsing systems. 918 oscillators in potentially long-periodic systems are reported. We increase the sample size of known solar-like oscillators in binary systems by an order of magnitude. We present the seismic properties of the full sample and conclude that the grand majority of the orbital elements in the TBO is physically reasonable. 82% of all TBO binary candidates with multiple times with APOGEE are confirmed from radial-velocity measurement. However, we suggest that due to instrumental noise of the TESS satellite the seismically inferred masses and radii of stars with $\nu_\textrm{max}$$\lesssim$30$\mu$Hz could be significantly overestimated. For 146 giants the seismically inferred evolutionary state has been determined and shows clear differences in their distribution in the orbital parameters, which are accounted the accumulative effect of the equilibrium tide acting in these evolved binary systems. For other 146 systems hosting oscillating stars values for the orbital inclination were found in the TBO. From testing the TBO on the SB9 catalogue, we obtain a completeness factor of 1/3.Comment: under review for publication in A&A (22 pages + 4 pages of appendix, 21 figures, 33 pages of tables in the Appendix

Action observation can prime visual object recognition

Observing an action activates action representations in the motor system. Moreover, the representations of manipulable objects are closely linked to the motor systems at a functional and neuroanatomical level. Here, we investigated whether action observation can facilitate object recognition using an action priming paradigm. As prime stimuli we presented short video movies showing hands performing an action in interaction with an object (where the object itself was always removed from the video). The prime movie was followed by a (briefly presented) target object affording motor interactions that are either similar (congruent condition) or dissimilar (incongruent condition) to the prime action. Participants had to decide whether an object name shown after the target picture corresponds with the picture or not (picture–word matching task). We found superior accuracy for prime–target pairs with congruent as compared to incongruent actions across two experiments. Thus, action observation can facilitate recognition of a manipulable object typically involving a similar action. This action priming effect supports the notion that action representations play a functional role in object recognition

Usefulness of the updated logistic clinical SYNTAX score after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with prior coronary artery bypass graft surgery: Insights from the GLOBAL LEADERS trial

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the prognostic utility of the anatomical CABG SYNTAX and logistic clinical SYNTAX scores for mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG). Background: The anatomical SYNTAX score evaluated the anatomical complexity of coronary artery disease and helped predict the prognosis of patients undergoing PCI. The anatomical CABG SYNTAX score was derived from the anatomical SYNTAX score in patients with prior CABG, whilst the logistic clinical SYNTAX score was developed by incorporating clinical factors into the anatomical SYNTAX score. Methods: We calculated the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score and logistic clinical SYNTAX score in 205 patients in the GLOBAL LEADERS trial. The predictive abilities of these scores for 2-year all-cause mortality were evaluated. Results: Using the median scores as categorical thresholds between low and high score groups, the logistic clinical SYNTAX score was able to discriminate the risk of 2-year mortality, unlike the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score. The logistic clinical SYNTAX was significantly better at predicting 2-year mortality, compared to the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score, as evidenced by AUC values in receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis (0.806 vs. 0.582, p <.001) and integrated discrimination improvement (0.121, p <.001). Conclusions: The logistic clinical SYNTAX score was superior to the anatomical CABG SYNTAX score in predicting 2-year mortality

Palearctic predator invades North American Great Lakes

Bythotrephes cederstroemii Schoedler, a predatory freshwater zooplankter (Crustacea: Cladocera), was first found in the Laurentian Great Lakes in December 1984. The first individuals were from Lake Huron, followed in 1985 with records from Lakes Erie and Ontario. By late August, 1986 the species had spread to southern Lake Michigan (43°N). Bythotrephes has not previously been reported from North America, but has been restricted to a northern and central Palearctic distribution. Its dramatic and widespread rise in abundance in Lake Michigan was greatest in offshore regions. Bythotrephes appears to be invading aggressively, but avoiding habitats presently occupied by glacio-marine relict species that became established in deep oligotrophic North American lakes after the Wisconsin glaciation. Because it is a voracious predator its invasion may lead to alterations in the native zooplankton fauna of the Great Lakes. It offers the chance to study how invading plankton species join an existing community. Judging from its persistence and success in deep European lakes, Bythotrephes may now become a permanent member of zooplankton communities in the Nearctic.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47771/1/442_2004_Article_BF00378947.pd

Sequence Comparisons of Odorant Receptors among Tortricid Moths Reveal Different Rates of Molecular Evolution among Family Members

In insects, odorant receptors detect volatile cues involved in behaviours such as mate recognition, food location and oviposition. We have investigated the evolution of three odorant receptors from five species within the moth genera Ctenopseustis and Planotrotrix, family Tortricidae, which fall into distinct clades within the odorant receptor multigene family. One receptor is the orthologue of the co-receptor Or83b, now known as Orco (OR2), and encodes the obligate ion channel subunit of the receptor complex. In comparison, the other two receptors, OR1 and OR3, are ligand-binding receptor subunits, activated by volatile compounds produced by plants - methyl salicylate and citral, respectively. Rates of sequence evolution at non-synonymous sites were significantly higher in OR1 compared with OR2 and OR3. Within the dataset OR1 contains 109 variable amino acid positions that are distributed evenly across the entire protein including transmembrane helices, loop regions and termini, while OR2 and OR3 contain 18 and 16 variable sites, respectively. OR2 shows a high level of amino acid conservation as expected due to its essential role in odour detection; however we found unexpected differences in the rate of evolution between two ligand-binding odorant receptors, OR1 and OR3. OR3 shows high sequence conservation suggestive of a conserved role in odour reception, whereas the higher rate of evolution observed in OR1, particularly at non-synonymous sites, may be suggestive of relaxed constraint, perhaps associated with the loss of an ancestral role in sex pheromone reception

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is characterized by alterations of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter complex proteins: insights from patients with aortic valve stenosis versus hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy

Introduction: Hypertrophies of the cardiac septum are caused either by aortic valve stenosis (AVS) or by congenital hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). As they induce cardiac remodeling, these cardiac pathologies may promote an arrhythmogenic substrate with associated malignant ventricular arrhythmias and may lead to heart failure. While altered calcium (Ca2+) handling seems to be a key player in the pathogenesis, the role of mitochondrial calcium handling was not investigated in these patients to date.Methods: To investigate this issue, cardiac septal samples were collected from patients undergoing myectomy during cardiac surgery for excessive septal hypertrophy and/or aortic valve replacement, caused by AVS and HOCM. Septal specimens were matched with cardiac tissue obtained from post-mortem controls without cardiac diseases (Ctrl).Results and discussion: Patient characteristics and most of the echocardiographic parameters did not differ between AVS and HOCM. Most notably, the interventricular septum thickness, diastolic (IVSd), was the greatest in HOCM patients. Histological and molecular analyses showed a trend towards higher fibrotic burden in both pathologies, when compared to Ctrl. Most notably, the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) complex associated proteins were altered in both pathologies of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). On the one hand, the expression pattern of the MCU complex subunits MCU and MICU1 were shown to be markedly increased, especially in AVS. On the other hand, PRMT-1, UCP-2, and UCP-3 declined with hypertrophy. These conditions were associated with an increase in the expression patterns of the Ca2+ uptaking ion channel SERCA2a in AVS (p = 0.0013), though not in HOCM, compared to healthy tissue. Our data obtained from human specimen from AVS or HOCM indicates major alterations in the expression of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter complex and associated proteins. Thus, in cardiac septal hypertrophies, besides modifications of cytosolic calcium handling, impaired mitochondrial uptake might be a key player in disease progression