A Comprehensive Review of COVID-19: Associated Endocrine Manifestations

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has played a significant part in systematic damage, affecting lives and leading to significant mortality. The endocrine system is one of the systems affected by this pandemic outbreak. The relationship between them has been identified in previous and ongoing research. The mechanism through which severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) can achieve this is similar to that for organs that express angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors, which is the primary binding site of the virus. Endocrine cells widely express angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors and transmembrane serine protease 2, the primary mediators initiating the acute phase of the disease. This review aimed to identify and discuss the endocrine complications of COVID-19. This primary focus is on presenting thyroid disorders or newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM). Thyroid dysfunction with subacute thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, and hypothyroidism caused by primary autoimmune thyroiditis has been reported. Pancreatic damage leads to type 1 DM because of the autoimmune nature of the disease and type 2 DM because of post inflammatory insulin resistance. Because follow-up data on COVID-19 on the endocrine glands are limited, long-term investigations are needed to assess specific effects

Roles of GM-CSF in the Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Diseases: An Update.

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was first described as a growth factor that induces the differentiation and proliferation of myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow. GM-CSF also has an important cytokine effect in chronic inflammatory diseases by stimulating the activation and migration of myeloid cells to inflammation sites, promoting survival of target cells and stimulating the renewal of effector granulocytes and macrophages. Because of these pro-cellular effects, an imbalance in GM-CSF production/signaling may lead to harmful inflammatory conditions. In this context, GM-CSF has a pathogenic role in autoimmune diseases that are dependent on cellular immune responses such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Conversely, a protective role has also been described in other autoimmune diseases where humoral responses are detrimental such as myasthenia gravis (MG), Hashimoto\u27s thyroiditis (HT), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this review, we aimed for a comprehensive analysis of literature data on the multiple roles of GM-CSF in autoimmue diseases and possible therapeutic strategies that target GM-CSF production

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Graphene and Related Materials for Resistive Random Access Memories

Graphene and related materials (GRMs) are promising candidates for the fabrication of resistive random access memories (RRAM). Here, we analyze, classify and evaluate this emerging field, and summarize the performance of the RRAM prototypes using GRMs. Graphene oxide, amorphous carbon films, transition metal dichalcogenides, hexagonal boron nitride and black phosphorous can be used as resistive switching media, in which the switching can be governed either by the migration of intrinsic species or penetration of metallic ions from adjacent layers. Graphene can be used as electrode to provide flexibility and transparency, as well as an interface layer between the electrode and dielectric to block atomic diffusion, reduce power consumption, suppress surface effects, limit the number of conductive filaments in the dielectric, and improve device integration. GRMs-based RRAMs fit some non-volatile memory technological requirements like low operating voltages 10 years, endurance >109 cycles and power consumption ~10 pJ/transition still remain a challenge. More technology-oriented studies including reliability and variability analyses may lead to the development of GRMs-based RRAMs with realistic possibilities of commercialization.We acknowledge support from the Young 1000 Global Talent Recruitment Program of the Ministry of Education of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants no. 61502326, 41550110223), the Jiangsu Government (grant no. BK20150343), the Ministry of Finance of China (grant no. SX21400213), the Young 973 National Program of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (grant no. 2015CB932700), the Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science & Technology, the Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 61521064, 61322408, 61422407, the Beijing Training Project for the Leading Talents in S&T under Grant No. ljrc201508, the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Microelectronic Devices & Integrated Technology, Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the EU Graphene Flagship, FP7 Grant CARERAMM, ERC Grants Hetero2D and Highgraink, EPSRC Grants EP/K01711X/1, EP/K017144/1, EP/N010345/1, EP/M507799/1, EP/L016087/1, EP/M013243/1

Sudden cardiac death in the adolescent population: a narrative review

Abstract Background Death from unexpected circulatory arrest within 60 min of onset of symptom is known as sudden cardiac death (SCD). In spite of the advancement in treatment and prevention strategies, SCD remains the most common cause of death worldwide especially in the young. Main body This review focuses on highlighting how different cardiovascular diseases contribute to SCD. We discuss the clinical symptoms that the patient experience prior to sudden cardiac arrest and the treatment strategies including pharmacological and surgical treatment. Conclusions We conclude that since there are many causes of SCD and very few treatment options, prevention strategies, early detection, and resuscitation of those at greatest risk is important