title: CovidAID: COVID-19 Detection Using Chest X-Ray

text: The exponential increase in COVID-19 patients is overwhelming healthcare systems across the world. With limited testing kits, it is impossible for every patient with respiratory illness to be tested using conventional techniques (RT-PCR). The tests also have long turn-around time, and limited sensitivity. Detecting possible COVID-19 infections on Chest X-Ray may help quarantine high risk patients while test results are awaited. X-Ray machines are already available in most healthcare systems, and with most modern X-Ray systems already digitized, there is no transportation time involved for the samples either. In this work we propose the use of chest X-Ray to prioritize the selection of patients for further RT-PCR testing. This may be useful in an inpatient setting where the present systems are struggling to decide whether to keep the patient in the ward along with other patients or isolate them in COVID-19 areas. It would also help in identifying patients with high likelihood of COVID with a false negative RT-PCR who would need repeat testing. Further, we propose the use of modern AI techniques to detect the COVID-19 patients using X-Ray images in an automated manner, particularly in settings where radiologists are not available, and help make the proposed testing technology scalable. We present CovidAID: COVID-19 AI Detector, a novel deep neural network based model to triage patients for appropriate testing. On the publicly available covid-chestxray-dataset [2], our model gives 90.5% accuracy with 100% sensitivity (recall) for the COVID-19 infection. We significantly improve upon the results of Covid-Net [10] on the same dataset.


title: Immunological determinants of clinical outcomes in COVID-19: A quantitative perspective

text: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has a variable clinical presentation that ranges from asymptomatic, to severe disease with cytokine storm. The mortality rates also differ across the globe, ranging from 0.5-13%. This variation is likely due to both pathogen and host factors. Host factors may include genetic differences in the immune response genes as well as variation in HLA and KIR allotypes. To better understand what impact these genetic variants in immune response genes may have in the differences observed in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, a quantitative analysis of a dynamical systems model that considers both, the magnitude of viral growth, and the subsequent innate and adaptive response required to achieve control of infection is considered. Based on this broad quantitative framework it may be posited that the spectrum of symptomatic to severely symptomatic presentations of COVID19 represents the balance between innate and adaptive immune responses. In asymptomatic patients, prompt and adequate adaptive immune response quells infection, whereas in those with severe symptoms a slower inadequate adaptive response leads to a runaway cytokine cascade fueled by ongoing viral replication. Polymorphisms in the various components of the innate and adaptive immune response may cause altered immune response kinetics that would result in variable severity of illness. Understanding how this genetic variation may alter the response to SARS-CoV-2 infection is critical to develop successful treatment strategies.


title: Pharmacy Services and the Novel Coronavirus

text: Pharmacists around the world can expect to be affected by the coronavirus, especially those who provide care for older people who are at a much higher risk for grave consequences from the virus. It is critical that pharmacists maintain awareness of the evolving pandemic and access reliable information to remain familiar with developments.


title: D'une épidémie à l'autre : quelles leçons apprises sont transférables à la réduction de l'impact psychosocial du confinement lié au Covid-19 ?/ [From one epidemic to the next: how can the learned experience serve to alleviate the psychosocial impact of Covid-19 confinement?]

text: The confinement of the population for an indefinite period within the framework of the national French prevention strategy of Covid-19 has a negative psychosocial impact already documented in other countries. In the past, several epidemics have built different strategies of prevention. It is urgent to consider how strategies used in other epidemics might be useful and helpful to manage the quarantine used to prevent the epidemics of COVID-19.


title: Forecasting the Impact of Coronavirus Disease During Delivery Hospitalization: An Aid for Resources Utilization

text: Background: The ongoing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the United States. In cases of infectious disease outbreak, forecasting models are often developed for resources utilization. Pregnancy and delivery pose unique challenges, given the altered maternal immune system and the fact that the majority of American women choose to deliver in the hospital setting. Objectives: The aim of our study is to forecast the incidence of COVID-19 in general population and to forecast the overall incidence, severe cases, critical cases and fatal COVID-19 cases during delivery hospitalization in the United States. Study design: We use a phenomenological model with generalized logistic growth models to forecast the incidence of COVID-19 in the United States from 4/15/2020 - 12/31/2020. Incidence data from 3/1/2020 - 4/14/2020 were used to provide best-fit model solution. Subsequently, Monte-Carlo simulation was performed for each week from 3/1/2020 - 12/31/2020 to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 in delivery hospitalizations using the available data estimate. Results: From 3/1/2020 - 12/31/2020, our model forecasted a total of 860,475 cases of COVID-19 in general population across the United States. The cumulative incidence for COVID-19 during delivery hospitalization is anticipated to be 16,601 (95% CI, 9,711 - 23,491) cases. Among those, 3,308 (95% CI, 1,755 - 4,861) cases are expected to be severe, 681 (95% CI, 1324 - 1,038) critical and 52 (95% CI, 23 - 81) maternal mortality. Assuming similar baseline maternal mortality rate as the year of 2018, we projected an increase in maternal mortality rate in the US to at least 18.7 (95% CI, 18.0 - 19.5) deaths per 100,000 live birth as a direct result of COVID-19. Conclusions: COVID-19 infection in pregnant women is expected to severely impact obstetrical care. From 3/1/2020 - 12/31/2020, we project 3,308 severe and 681 critical cases, with about 52 COVID-19 related maternal mortalities during delivery hospitalization in the United States. These data might be helpful for counseling and resource allocation.


Examining Older Adult Cognitive Status in the Time of COVID-19


title: Revealing COVID-19 transmission in Australia by SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing and agent-based modeling

text: In January 2020, a novel betacoronavirus (family Coronaviridae), named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the etiological agent of a cluster of pneumonia cases occurring in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China1,2. The disease arising from SARS-CoV-2 infection, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), subsequently spread rapidly causing a worldwide pandemic. Here we examine the added value of near real-time genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in a subpopulation of infected patients during the first 10 weeks of COVID-19 containment in Australia and compare findings from genomic surveillance with predictions of a computational agent-based model (ABM). Using the Australian census data, the ABM generates over 24 million software agents representing the population of Australia, each with demographic attributes of an anonymous individual. It then simulates transmission of the disease over time, spreading from specific infection sources, using contact rates of individuals within different social contexts. We report that the prospective sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 clarified the probable source of infection in cases where epidemiological links could not be determined, significantly decreased the proportion of COVID-19 cases with contentious links, documented genomically similar cases associated with concurrent transmission in several institutions and identified previously unsuspected links. Only a quarter of sequenced cases appeared to be locally acquired and were concordant with predictions from the ABM. These high-resolution genomic data are crucial to track cases with locally acquired COVID-19 and for timely recognition of independent importations once border restrictions are lifted and trade and travel resume.


title: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the daily management of biotechnological therapy in inflammatory bowel disease patients: Reorganisational response in a high-volume Italian inflammatory bowel disease centre

text: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a major clinical as well as organisational impact on the national health-care system in Italy, particularly in high-volume hospitals which are usually active for many essential clinical needs, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Here, we report major clinical and organisational challenges at a high-volume Italian IBD centre one month after the start of the Italian government's restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All routine follow-up IBD visits of patients in remission were cancelled or rescheduled for 8-12 weeks' time. However, access to the hospital for therapy or for unstable/relapsing patients was not considered postponable. Everyone attending the centre (e.g. physicians, nurses, administrative personnel and patients) were advised to respect the general recommended rules for hand hygiene and social distancing, to disclose if they had a fever or cough or flu-like symptoms and to wear a surgical mask and gloves. At the entrance of the therapy area, a control station was set up in order to double-check all patients with a clinical interview and conduct thermal scanning. A total of 1451 IBD patients under biotechnological or experimental therapy actively followed in the CEMAD IBD centre were included in the study. About 65% of patients maintained their appointment schedules without major problems, while in 20% of cases planned infusions were delayed because of the patient's decision or practical issues. About 10% of patients receiving subcutaneous therapy were allowed to collect their medicine without a follow-up visit. Finally, 10% of patients living outside the Lazio region requested access to their therapy at a local centre closer to their home. At present, five patients have been found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection but with minimal symptoms, 22 are in 'quarantine' for contact considered to be 'at risk' for the infection. Up to now, none of them has experienced significant symptoms. This study represents the first observational detailed report about short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient organisation and management in a high-volume IBD centre.


Reducing mortality from 2019-nCoV: host-directed therapies should be an option


Adjustments in analyses of vitamin D status, allowing for vitamin D determinants, for Covid-19 risks


The practical challenges of making clinical use of the quantitative value for SARS-CoV-2 viral load across several dynamics


title: Features of enteric disease from human coronaviruses: Implications for COVID-19

text: Coronaviruses have long been studied in both human and veterinary fields. Whereas the initial detection of endemic human respiratory coronaviruses was problematic, detection of these and newly discovered human coronaviruses has been greatly facilitated with major advances in the laboratory. Nevertheless, technological factors can affect the accuracy and timeliness of virus detection. Many human coronaviruses can be variably found in stool samples. All human coronaviruses have been variably associated with symptoms of gastroenteritis. Coronaviruses can occasionally be cultured from enteric specimens, but most detection is accomplished with genetic amplification technologies. Excretion of viral RNA in stool can extend for a prolonged period. Culture-positive stool samples have been found to exceed a fourteen day period after onset of infection for some coronaviruses. Virus can also sometimes be cultured from patients' respiratory samples during the late incubation period. Relatively asymptomatic patients may excrete virus. Both viable and nonviable virus can be found in the immediate environment of the patient, the health care worker, and less often the public. These lessons from the past study of animal and human coronaviruses can be extended to presumptions for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Already, the early reports from the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic are confirming some concerns. These data have the cumulative potential to cause us to rethink some current and common public health and infection control strategies.


title: Alternative splicing and allosteric regulation modulate the chromatin binding of UHRF1

text: UHRF1 is an important epigenetic regulator associated with apoptosis and tumour development. It is a multidomain protein that integrates readout of different histone modification states and DNA methylation with enzymatic histone ubiquitylation activity. Emerging evidence indicates that the chromatin-binding and enzymatic modules of UHRF1 do not act in isolation but interplay in a coordinated and regulated manner. Here, we compared two splicing variants (V1, V2) of murine UHRF1 (mUHRF1) with human UHRF1 (hUHRF1). We show that insertion of nine amino acids in a linker region connecting the different TTD and PHD histone modification-binding domains causes distinct H3K9me3-binding behaviour of mUHRF1 V1. Structural analysis suggests that in mUHRF1 V1, in contrast to V2 and hUHRF1, the linker is anchored in a surface groove of the TTD domain, resulting in creation of a coupled TTD-PHD module. This establishes multivalent, synergistic H3-tail binding causing distinct cellular localization and enhanced H3K9me3-nucleosome ubiquitylation activity. In contrast to hUHRF1, H3K9me3-binding of the murine proteins is not allosterically regulated by phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate that interacts with a separate less-conserved polybasic linker region of the protein. Our results highlight the importance of flexible linkers in regulating multidomain chromatin binding proteins and point to divergent evolution of their regulation.


title: Gas Aerosol Jetstreams from Trocars during Laparoscopic Surgery- A Video Vignette

text: Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures have been restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part to reduce inpatient occupancy and minimize pressure on critical care and anaesthesia but also because of concern for the potential for transmission of infection via aerosols created by laparoscopy. Viral particles have now been identified in the blood, stool and peritoneal fluid of infected patients although the infectious potential of any such particles that may be carried via surgical gases is unclear.


title: Challenging times: ethics, nursing and the COVID-19 pandemic

text: Globally nurses and midwives are working hard to detect cases of COVID-19, to save lives or give comfort in the face of death, to educate themselves and the public about protective measures to stop the viral spread, while still caring for those not infected with the virus. In many countries nurses are working under virtual siege from this pandemic, with not enough resources or personal protective equipment, overwhelming numbers of patients, staff shortages, underprepared health systems and supply chain failures. Nurses and other health and emergency workers are suffering physical and emotional stress, and moral distress from conflicting professional values. They are faced with unpalatable and complex ethical issues in practice, with moral conflicts, high levels of acuity and patient deaths, and long working hours. A rising number of nurses are infected with SARS-CoV-2 or dying in the line of duty. Nurses need strong moral courage, stamina and resilience to work on the front lines of the pandemic, often while separated from their loved ones.


Telemedicine services thrive during Covid-19


Radiothérapie mammaire dans le contexte de la pandémie de COVID-19 : astuces pratiques en période épidémique et conseils pour la reprise de l'activité en fin de crise./ [Breast radiation therapy during COVID-19 outbreak: Practical advice]


title: Profiles of COVID-19 clinical trials in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry

text: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global public health crisis since its initial reports in China. Since no effective vaccine or drug has been developed to treat and combat the COVID-19, the current approaches for clinical management focus on supportive care. There is a pressing need for evidence-based interventions to address the devastating clinical and public health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese scientists supported by private and government resources have adopted extensive efforts to identify effective drugs against the virus. To date, a large number of clinical trials addressing various aspects of COVID-19 have been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR), including more than 200 interventional studies. Under such an urgent circumstance, the scope and quality of these clinical studies vary significantly. Hence, this review aims to make a comprehensive analysis on the profiles of COVID-19 clinical trials registered in the ChiCTR, including a wide range of characteristics. Our findings will provide a useful summary on these clinical studies, since most of these studies will encounter major challenges from the design to completion. It will be a long road for the outcomes of these studies to be published and international collaboration will help the ultimate goals of developing new vaccines and antiviral drugs. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04252664.. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04257656..


title: Aboriginal artefacts on the continental shelf reveal ancient drowned cultural landscapes in northwest Australia

text: This article reports Australia's first confirmed ancient underwater archaeological sites from the continental shelf, located off the Murujuga coastline in north-western Australia. Details on two underwater sites are reported: Cape Bruguieres, comprising > 260 recorded lithic artefacts at depths down to -2.4 m below sea level, and Flying Foam Passage where the find spot is associated with a submerged freshwater spring at -14 m. The sites were discovered through a purposeful research strategy designed to identify underwater targets, using an iterative process incorporating a variety of aerial and underwater remote sensing techniques and diver investigation within a predictive framework to map the submerged landscape within a depth range of 0-20 m. The condition and context of the lithic artefacts are analysed in order to unravel their depositional and taphonomic history and to corroborate their in situ position on a pre-inundation land surface, taking account of known geomorphological and climatic processes including cyclone activity that could have caused displacement and transportation from adjacent coasts. Geomorphological data and radiometric dates establish the chronological limits of the sites and demonstrate that they cannot be later than 7000 cal BP and 8500 cal BP respectively, based on the dates when they were finally submerged by sea-level rise. Comparison of underwater and onshore lithic assemblages shows differences that are consistent with this chronological interpretation. This article sets a foundation for the research strategies and technologies needed to identify archaeological targets at greater depth on the Australian continental shelf and elsewhere, building on the results presented. Emphasis is also placed on the need for legislation to better protect and manage underwater cultural heritage on the 2 million square kilometres of drowned landscapes that were once available for occupation in Australia, and where a major part of its human history must lie waiting to be discovered.


title: COVID-19 and the Widening Gap in Health Inequity

text: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought to light significant health inequities that have existed in our society for decades. Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and immigrants are the populations most likely to experience disparities related to burden of disease, health care, and health outcomes. Increasingly, national and state statistics on COVID-19 report disproportionately higher mortality rates in blacks. There has never been a more pressing time for us to enact progressive and far-reaching changes in social, economic, and political policies that will shape programs aimed at improving the health of all people living in the United States.


ISEV and ISCT statement on EVs from MSCs and other cells: considerations for potential therapeutic agents to suppress COVID-19


title: Lung Scintigraphy Imaging Features in a Young Patient With COVID-19

text: A 31-year-old man developed diarrhea, fatigue, and intermittent fever for 2 weeks. The past few days he had experienced increasing dyspnea and dry cough. Ambulatory reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing was positive for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). Because of elevated D-dimer (1.5 mg/L), a lung scintigraphy (V/Q scan) was performed as SPECT/CT. Ventilation SPECT showed reduced ventilation with central nuclide deposition, whereas perfusion SPECT was inconspicuous, excluding pulmonary embolism. However, the low-dose CT revealed bilateral ground-glass opacities as previously described in COVID-19. This case highlights the procedure and findings of V/Q scanning (without embolism) in COVID-19.


title: Long-term surveillance of bat coronaviruses in Korea: Diversity and distribution pattern

text: Bats harbour diverse coronaviruses (CoVs), some of which are associated with zoonotic infections, as well as inter-species transmission. In this study, a total of 512 bat faecal samples from the bat habitats at different geographical locations in South Korea were investigated between 2016 and 2019. Seventy-eight samples were positive for coronaviruses (15.2%), comprising 68 alphacoronaviruses (13.3%) and 10 betacoronaviruses (2.0%). The positive rates tended to increase during the awakening (April) period. Notably, betacoronaviruses were only found in the site where Rhinolophus ferrumequinum was the major species of bats, and were related to SARS- and MERS-related CoVs identified in China and South Korea, respectively. No betacoronaviruses were closely related to SARS-CoV-2 in this study. Alphacoronaviruses were detected in the sites where Hypsugo alaschanicus, Miniopterus fuliginosus, Miniopterus schreibersii, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Myotis bombinus, Myotis macrodactylus and Myotis petax were found to be the major bat species. Furthermore, alphacoronaviruses had higher genetic diversity than betacoronaviruses and had a wider distribution in Korea. Considering that different bat species are co-roosting in crowded conditions in the same habitat, the diverse coronaviruses in Korean bats are likely to undergo cross-species transmission events due to the richness in host species. Therefore, continuous monitoring should be performed, especially at the awakening time of the hibernating bats in the habitats where diverse bat species co-roost, to better understand the evolution of coronaviruses in bats.


title: A case of COVID-19 and pneumonia returning from Macau in Taiwan: Clinical course and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG dynamic

text: A 46-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with 2-day fever and cough at seven days after returning from Macau. COVID-19 and pneumonia was diagnosed based on the positive real-time RT-PCR tests for oropharyngeal swab samples and the presence of anti-SARS-COV-2 IgG starting from the illness day 11 and post-exposure 18-21 days.


title: Fair Classification with Noisy Protected Attributes

text: Due to the growing deployment of classification algorithms in various social contexts, developing methods that are fair with respect to protected attributes such as gender or race is an important problem. However, the information about protected attributes in datasets may be inaccurate due to either issues with data collection or when the protected attributes used are themselves predicted by algorithms. Such inaccuracies can prevent existing fair classification algorithms from achieving desired fairness guarantees. Motivated by this, we study fair classification problems when the protected attributes in the data may be ``noisy''. In particular, we consider a noise model where any protected type may be flipped to another with some fixed probability. We propose a ``denoised'' fair optimization formulation that can incorporate very general fairness goals via a set of constraints, mitigates the effects of such noise perturbations, and comes with provable guarantees. Empirically, we show that our framework can lead to near-perfect statistical parity with only a slight loss in accuracy for significant noise levels.


title: Evaluating the use of posterior oropharyngeal saliva in a point-of-care assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2

text: During the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, logistic problems associated with specimen collection limited the SARS-CoV-2 testing, especially in the community. In this study, we assessed the use of posterior oropharyngeal saliva as specimens for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in an automated point-of-care molecular assay. Archived nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and posterior oropharyngeal saliva specimens of 58 COVID-19 patients were tested with the Xpert® Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay. SARS-CoV-2 was detected in either NPS or saliva specimens of all patients. Among them, 84.5% (49/58) tested positive in both NPS and saliva, 10.3% (6/58) tested positive in NPS only, and 5.2% (3/58) tested positive in saliva only. No significant difference in the detection rate was observed between NPS and saliva (McNemar's test p = 0.5078). The detection rate was slightly higher for N2 (NPS 94.8% and Saliva 93.1%) than that of the E gene target (Saliva: 89.7% vs 82.8%) on both specimen types. Significantly earlier median Ct value was observed for NPS comparing to that of saliva on both E (26.8 vs 29.7, p = 0.0002) and N2 gene target (29.3 vs 32.3, p = 0.0002). The median Ct value of E gene target was significantly earlier than that of the N2 gene target for both NPS (26.8 vs 29.3, p < 0.0001) and saliva (29.7 vs 32.3, p < 0.0001). In conclusion, posterior oropharyngeal saliva and NPS were found to have similar detection rates in the point-of-care test for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Since posterior oropharyngeal saliva can be collected easily, the use of saliva as an alternative specimen type for SARS-CoV-2 detection is recommended.


title: [Source of the COVID-19 pandemic: ecology and genetics of coronaviruses (Betacoronavirus: Coronaviridae) SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 (subgenus Sarbecovirus), and MERS-CoV (subgenus Merbecovirus).]

text: Since the early 2000s, three novel zooanthroponous coronaviruses (Betacoronavirus) have emerged. The first outbreak of infection (SARS) caused by SARS-CoV virus occurred in the fall of 2002 in China (Guangdong Province). A second outbreak (MERS) associated with the new MERS-CoV virus appeared in Saudi Arabia in autumn 2012. The third epidemic, which turned into a COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus, emerged in China (Hubei Province) in the autumn 2019. This review focuses on ecological and genetic aspects that lead to the emergence of new human zoanthroponous coronaviruses. The main mechanism of adaptation of zoonotic betacoronaviruses to humans is to changes in the receptor-binding domain of surface protein (S), as a result of which it gains the ability to bind human cellular receptors of epithelial cells in respiratory and gastrointestinal tract. This process is caused by the high genetic diversity and variability combined with frequent recombination, during virus circulation in their natural reservoir - bats (Microchiroptera, Chiroptera). Appearance of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 (subgenus Sarbecovirus), and MERS (subgenus Merbecovirus) viruses is a result of evolutionary events occurring in bat populations with further transfer of viruses to the human directly or through the intermediate vertebrate hosts, ecologically connected with bats. This review is based on the report at the meeting «Coronavirus - a global challenge to science¼ of the Scientific Council «Life Science¼ of the Russian Academy of Science: Lvov D.K., Alkhovsky S.V., Burtseva E.I. COVID-19 pandemic sources: origin, biology and genetics of coronaviruses of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV (Conference hall of Presidium of RAS, 14 Leninsky Prospect, Moscow, Russia. April 16, 2020).


The coronavirus pandemic: How can design help?


Toward Universal Deployable Guidelines for the Care of Patients With COVID-19


[Prevention and control strategies and methods of novel coronavirus epidemic infection in department of otolaryngology head and neck surgery in hospital]


China's Coronavirus-Induced Paralysis Threatens U.S. Drug Supply Chain


title: Asymptomatic COVID-19 in pregnant woman with typical chest CT manifestation: a case report/ 中华围产医学杂志

text: We report a case of maternal asymptomatic COVID-19 in a patient with typical CT image of pneumonia in the third trimester, and both the mother and baby were well. The patient, a 30-year-old female, was transferred to Yichun People's Hospital at 37 +3 gestational weeks because of a positive 2019 novel coronavirus nucleic acid result over seven hours. Her husband and mother-in-law were diagnosed with COVID-19 eight days before her admission and on the same day, respectively. The patient reported no discomfort before admission, and there were no abnormalities in the prenatal course during her pregnancy. On February 13 (the second day of admission), a patchy blurred shadow was observed in the lower lobe of the right lung in chest CT scan, and a live baby girl was delivered by a precaution-based emergent cesarean section because of suspected fetal distress shown in electrical fetal heart monitoring. Both the mother and the newborn were isolated separately after the operation without etiological examination of amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, placenta, etc. All the medical staff involved in the cesarean section were isolated as well. The mother was healthy and remained asymptomatic after delivery, while antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatment was offered. COVID-19 nucleic acid tests of pharyngeal swab were negative on the 4 th and 6 th day after operation. Chest CT on the 5 th day after delivery showed inflammation in the lower lobe of the right lung, and reexamination on the 8 th day showed a slight absorption of the inflammation. Samples of peripheral blood and pharynx swab were obtained from the newborn on the day of birth and four and seven days after birth and novel coronavirus nucleic acid test were all negative. The mother and baby dyad were discharged nine days after operation. And novel coronavirus nucleic acid tests were all negative in all medical staff involved.


title: Leveraging WiFi Network Logs to Infer Social Interactions: A Case Study of Academic Performance and Student Behavior

text: On university campuses, social interactions among students can explain their academic experiences. However, assessing these interactions with surveys fails to capture their dynamic nature. While these behaviors can be captured with client-based passive sensing, these techniques are limited in scalability. By contrast, infrastructure-based approaches can scale to a large cohort and infer social interactions based on collocation of students. This paper investigates one such approach by leveraging WiFi association logs archived by a managed campus network. In their raw form, access point logs can approximate a student's location but with low spatio-temporal resolution. This paper first demonstrates that processing these logs can infer the collocation of 46 students in 34 lectures over 3 months, with a precision of 0.89 and a recall of 0.75. Next, we investigate how this WiFi-based coarse collocation reflects signals of social interaction. With 163 students in 54 project groups, we find that member performance shows a correlation of 0.75 with performance determined from collocation of groups through 14 weeks. Additionally, this paper presents preliminary insights for other campus-centric applications of automatically inferred social interactions. Finally, this paper discusses how repurposing archival WiFi logs can facilitate applications for other domains like mental wellbeing and physical health.


Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 in a Patient on Durable Left Ventricular Assist Device Support


title: Comparison of Image Quality Models for Optimization of Image Processing Systems

text: The performance of objective image quality assessment (IQA) models has been evaluated primarily by comparing model predictions to human judgments. Perceptual datasets (e.g., LIVE and TID2013) gathered for this purpose provide useful benchmarks for improving IQA methods, but their heavy use creates a risk of overfitting. Here, we perform a large-scale comparison of perceptual IQA models in terms of their use as objectives for the optimization of image processing algorithms. Specifically, we evaluate eleven full-reference IQA models by using them as objective functions to train deep neural networks for four low-level vision tasks: denoising, deblurring, super-resolution, and compression. Extensive subjective testing on the optimized images allows us to rank the competing models in terms of their perceptual performance, elucidate their relative advantages and disadvantages for these tasks, and propose a set of desirable properties for incorporation into future IQA models. The implementations are available at https://github.com/dingkeyan93/IQA-optimization.


title: Diagnostic Performance of CT and Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction for Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Meta-Analysis

text: Background Recent studies have suggested that chest computed tomography (CT) scans could be used as a primary screening or diagnostic tool for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in epidemic areas. Purpose To perform a meta-analysis to evaluate diagnostic performance measures, including predictive values, of chest CT and initial reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Materials and Methods MEDLINE and Embase were searched from January 1, 2020 to April 3, 2020 for studies on COVID-19 that reported the sensitivity and/or specificity of CT scans and/or RT-PCR assays. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were estimated by using random-effects models. The actual prevalence (i.e., the proportion of confirmed patients among those tested) in eight countries was obtained from web sources, and the predictive values were calculated. Meta-regression was performed to reveal the effect of potential explanatory factors on the diagnostic performance measures. Results The pooled sensitivity was 94% (95% CI: 91%, 96%; I2=95%) for chest CT and 89% (95% CI: 81%, 94%; I2=90%) for RT-PCR. The pooled specificity was 37% (95% CI: 26%, 50%; I2=83%) for chest CT. The prevalence of COVID-19 outside China ranged from 1.0% to 22.9%. For chest CT scans, the positive predictive value (PPV) ranged from 1.5% to 30.7%, and the negative predictive value (NPV) ranged from 95.4% to 99.8%. For RT-PCR,the PPV ranged from 47.3% to 96.4%, while the NPV ranged from 96.8% to 99.9%. The sensitivity of CT was affected by the distribution of disease severity, the proportion of patients with comorbidities, and the proportion of asymptomatic patients (all p < 0.05). The sensitivity of RT-PCR was negatively associated with the proportion of elderly patients (p = 0.01). Conclusion Outside of China where there is a low-prevalence of COVID-19 (1-22.9%), chest CT screening of patients with suspected disease had low positive predictive value (1.5-30.7%).


title: Clinical characteristics of non-critically ill patients with novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in a Fangcang Hospital

text: OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical characteristics of patients in a Fangcang Hospital. METHODS: Non-critically ill individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests admitted between 7 February and 12 February 2020 to Dongxihu Fangcang Hospital, which was promptly constructed because of the rapid, exponential increase in COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China, were included; clinical course through to 22 February was recorded. RESULTS: A total of 1012 non-critically ill individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests were included in the study. Thirty (of 1012, 3.0%) individuals were asymptomatic on admission. During hospitalization, 16 of 30 (53.3%) asymptomatic individuals developed different symptoms. Fourteen of 1012 patients (1.4%) remained asymptomatic from exposure to the end of follow up, with a median duration of 24 days (interquartile range 22-27). Fever (761 of 1012, 75.2%) and cough (531 of 1012, 52.4%) were the most common symptoms. Small patchy opacities (355 of 917, 38.7%) and ground-glass opacities (508 of 917, 55.4%) were common imaging manifestations in chest CT scans. One hundred patients (9.9%) were transferred to designated hospitals due to aggravation of illness. Diarrhoea emerged in 152 of 1012 patients (15.0%). Male, older age, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chills, dyspnoea, So2 value of ≤93%, white blood cell counts of >10 × 109/L and large consolidated opacities on CT images were all risk factors for aggravation of illness. CONCLUSIONS: Non-critically ill individuals had different clinical characteristics from critically ill individuals. Asymptomatic infections only accounted for a small proportion of COVID-19. Although with a low incidence, diarrhoea was observed in patients with COVID-19, indicating the possibility of faecal-oral transmission.


Managing COVID-19-Positive Maternal-Infant Dyads: An Italian Experience


The emotional impact of over suspicion in the corona virus pandemic


title: General thoracic surgery services across Asia during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

text: The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 posed an historic challenge to healthcare systems around the world. Besides mounting a massive response to the viral outbreak, healthcare systems needed to consider provision of clinical services to other patients in need. Surgical services for patients with thoracic disease were maintained to different degrees across various regions of Asia, ranging from significant reductions to near-normal service. Key determinants of robust thoracic surgery service provision included: preexisting plans for an epidemic response, aggressive early action to "flatten the curve", ability to dedicate resources separately to COVID-19 and routine clinical services, prioritization of thoracic surgery, and the volume of COVID-19 cases in that region. The lessons learned can apply to other regions during this pandemic, and to the world, in preparation for the next one.


Drug Repurposing for COVID-19: Ethical Considerations and Roadmaps


Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)-Associated Guillain-Barré Syndrome: Case Report


Covid-19 and Health Care's Digital Revolution


title: When Blackness Does Not Fade After a Pandemic: An Appeal to Acknowledge the Unequal Burden of Social Isolation

text: Social distancing is one of the few tools that the everyman has to combat the Coronavirus disease. However, for those who are subject to racialized stereotypes about work productivity, educational ability, and other assumptions, the choice to socially distance can have many unintended consequences. This article is an appeal to our posterity, inviting a conversation about how we will remember the Coronavirus' impact on our lives. Will we selectively provide compassion for the racial groups we perceive more favorable when this is over? Or will we play favorites when it is time to pick up the pieces? This article provides scenarios and commentary on how social distancing could affect Black American populations - regardless of income or socioeconomic status. It argues that history has not been kind to Black Americans who have bought into mass national causes, and that there is an opportunity here to act differently.


title: COVID-19 Contact Tracing: Eight Privacy Questions Explored

text: We respond to a recent short paper by de Motjoye et el. on privacy issues with Covid-19 tracking. Their paper, which we discuss here, is structured around three"toy protocols"for the design of an app which can maximise the utility of contact tracing information while minimising the more general risk to privacy. On this basis, the paper proceeds to introduce eight questions against which they should be assessed. The questions raised and the protocols proposed effectively amount to the creation of a game with different categories of players able to make different moves. It is therefore possible to analyse the model in terms of optimal game design.


Coronavirus-Pandemie: So werden die Leistungen am Patienten vergütet : Wie Sie an das extrabudgetäre Honorar kommen


title: Pandemic Paradox

text: The COVID-19 crisis continues. Worldwide, there have been roughly 6.3 million cases and 380,000 deaths. In the United States, at the time of this writing, there were 106,200 deaths. As life has changed on many fronts, some predictable effects of the pandemic have occurred, including socioeconomic hardships, social isolation, and political unease. Although the intensity of the need for effective treatments and a vaccine is ongoing, other issues have arisen that were not widely anticipated in the early days of the pandemic. Several of these consequences have brought a focus on issues that are at the heart of oncology nursing.


title: A real-time policy dashboard can aid global transparency in the response to coronavirus disease 2019

text: There has been great provision of open data across the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response, with, for example, dashboards presenting real-time descriptions of new daily cases and risk factors. Transparency has been an important discussion point and there have been concerns and criticisms of governments for not publishing the evidence base that is informing their decision-making. A 'policy dashboard' could act as a hub to show the localised reasoning behind COVID-19 policy decisions and allow the global health community to provide further support to governments and international stakeholders.


Controversies in CO2 Insufflation and COVID-19


COVID-19 and Lessons to Be Learned from Prior Coronavirus Outbreaks


title: Transfusion Thresholds for Adult Respiratory Extracorporeal Life Support: an Expert Consensus Document

text: Severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can complicate novel pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) represents the final possible rescue strategy. Variations in practice, combined with a paucity of rigorous guidelines, may complicate blood product resource availability and allocation during a pandemic. We conducted a literature review around venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) transfusion practices for platelets, packed red blood cells, fresh frozen plasma, prothrombin complex concentrate, and antithrombin. Pertinent society guidelines were examined, and the practice of Canadian ECLS experts was sampled through an environmental scan. This paper represents a synthesis of these explorations, combined with input from the Canadian Cardiovascular Critical Care (CANCARE) Society, Canadian Society of Cardiac Surgeons, and the Canadian Critical Care Society. We offer a pragmatic guidance document for restrictive transfusion thresholds in non-bleeding VV-ECMO patients, which may attenuate transfusion-related complications, and simultaneously shield national blood product inventory from strain during pandemic-induced activation of the National Plan for the Management of Shortages of Labile Blood Components.


title: Atividade antibiofilme de substâncias de Croton urucurana em Staphylococcus aureus isolado de mastite bovina/ Antibiofilm activity of Croton urucurana compounds against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from mastitis in dairy cattle

text: A mastite bovina é a enfermidade que causa maior impacto na produção leiteira, sendo o microrganismo Staphylococcus aureus o mais prevalente. Este gênero possui a capacidade de produzir biofilmes que é um importante mecanismo de resistência aos antibióticos. Considerando a capacidade terapêutica das plantas, a espécie Croton urucurana, nativa do Cerrado, foi alvo do presente estudo, que teve como objetivo avaliar a atividade antibiofilme in vitro do extrato vegetal e substâncias isoladas desta espécie, frente Staphylococcus aureus, isolados de leite de vacas com mastite, bem como dos antibióticos gentamicina e vancomicina. A atividade antibiofilme foi avaliada por meio do cristal violeta e da contagem de unidades formadoras de colônia. As imagens foram obtidas por microscopia eletrônica de varredura. O extrato bruto e frações de C. urucurana apresentaram atividade antibiofilme superior à gentamicina e semelhante à vancomicina, enquanto a substância isolada α-Costol foi significativamente mais ativa quando comparada aos demais tratamentos avaliados, reduzindo cerca de 6 ciclos logarítmicos da população bacteriana em biofilme. Conclui-se que os fitocomplexos e a substância α-Costol isolados de Croton urucurana são promissores no combate a um dos principais agentes etiológicos da mastite bovina.(AU)


Let's conquer COVID-19 and sustain our abilities


SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, "coronawar" oops; something was forgotten. Cardiovascular disease is still here! The collateral damage


title: Clinical performance of the Luminex NxTAG CoV Extended Panel for SARS-CoV-2 detection in nasopharyngeal specimens of COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong

text: In December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in the Hubei Province of China and later spread all over the world. There was an urgent need of a high-throughput molecular testing for screening the COVID-19 patients in the community. The Luminex NxTAG CoV Extended Panel is a high-throughput FDA emergency use authorized molecular diagnostic assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection. This system targets three genes (ORF1ab, N and E gene) of SARS-CoV-2, ORF1ab region of SARS-CoV and ORF5 region of MERS-CoV.In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of this system with nasopharyngeal swab specimens of 214 suspected COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong. The results were compared with our routine COVID-19 RT-PCR protocol with LightMix SarbecoV E-gene kit and an in-house RdRp/Hel RT-PCR assay. The NxTAG CoV Extended panel demonstrated a 97.8% sensitivity and 100% specificity to SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal specimens. On low viral load specimens, the sensitivity of the NxTAG panel could still maintain at 85.71%. High agreement was observed between the NxTAG panel and the routine COVID-19 RT-PCR protocol (kappa value = 0.98). Overall the E gene target of the NxTAG panel demonstrated the highest sensitivity among the three SARS-CoV-2 targets while the N gene targets demonstrated the least.In conclusion, the NxTAG CoV Extended Panel is simple to use and it has high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity to SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal specimens. we recommend this diagnostic system for high-throughput COVID-19 screening in the community.


title: Antibodies to coronaviruses are higher in older compared with younger adults and binding antibodies are more sensitive than neutralizing antibodies in identifying coronavirus-associated illnesses

text: Human coronaviruses (HCoV) are common causes of respiratory illnesses (RI) despite preexisting humoral immunity. Sera were obtained near the onset of RI and 3 to 4 weeks later as part of a prospective study of 200 subjects evaluated for RI from 2009 to 2013. Antibodies against common HCoV strains were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and neutralization assay comparing older adults with cardiopulmonary diseases (99 subjects) to younger, healthy adults (101 subjects). Virus shedding was detected in respiratory secretions by polymerase chain reaction. Of 43 HCoV-associated illnesses, 15 (35%) occurred in 14 older adults (aged ≥60 years) and 28 (65%) in 28 younger adults (aged 21-40 years). Binding and neutralizing antibodies were higher in older adults. Only 16 (35.7%) of RI with increases in binding antibodies also had increases in neutralizing antibodies to HCoV. Increases in binding antibodies with RI were more frequent than increased neutralizing antibodies and virus shedding, and more frequent in younger compared to older adults. Functional neutralizing antibodies were not stimulated as often as binding antibodies, explaining in part a susceptibility to reinfection with HCoV. Monitoring binding antibodies may be more sensitive for the serologic detection of HCoV infections.


title: Clinical Features and Short-term Outcomes of 102 Patients with Corona Virus Disease 2019 in Wuhan, China

text: OBJECTIVE: In December, 2019, a series of pneumonia cases of unknown cause emerged in Wuhan, Hubei, China. In this study, we investigate clinical and laboratory features and short-term outcomes of patients with Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID-19). METHODS: All patients with COVID-19 admitted to Wuhan University Zhongnan Hospital in Wuhan, China, between January 3 and February 1, 2020 were included. All those patients were with laboratory-confirmed infection. Epidemiological, clinical, radiological characteristics, underlying diseases, laboratory tests treatment, complications and outcomes data were collected. Outcomes were followed up at discharge until Feb 15, 2020. RESULTS: The study cohort included 102 adult patients. The median (IQR) age was 54 years (37-67years) and 48.0% were female. A total of 34 patients (33.3%) were exposed to source of transmission in the hospital setting (as health care workers, patients, or visitors) and 10 patients (9.8%) had a familial cluster. Eighteen patients (17.6%) were admitted to the ICU, and 17 patients died (mortality, 16.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.4%-23.9%). Among patients who survived, they were younger, more likely were health care workers and less likely suffered from comorbidities. They were also less likely suffered from complications. There was no difference in drug treatment rates between the survival and non-survival groups. Patients who survived less likely required admission to the intensive care unit (14.1% vs. 35.3%). Chest imaging examination showed that death patients more likely had ground-glass opacity (41.2% vs. 12.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The mortality rate was high among the COVID-19 patients described in our cohort who met our criteria for inclusion in this analysis. Patient characteristics seen more frequently in those who died were development of systemic complications following onset of the illness and the severity of disease requiring admission to the ICU. Our data support those described by others that COVID-19 infection results from human-to-human transmission, including familial clustering of cases, and nosocomial transmission. There were no differences in mortality among those who did or did not receive antimicrobial or glucocorticoid drug treatment.


Letter by Cerase et al Regarding Article, "Temporary Emergency Guidance to US Stroke Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic"


Covid conspiracies: misleading evidence can be more damaging than no evidence at all


title: Repurposing of well-known medications as antivirals: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine; from HIV-1 infection to COVID-19

text: INTRODUCTION: Chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), originally were prescribed for prevention or treatment of malaria, but now successfully are used in several rheumatologic diseases. In addition, in recent decades considering their immunomodulatory effects, high tolerably and low cost, they are evaluated for various viral infections from HIV to COVID-19. AREAS COVERED: In this review we tried to summarize all available studies on HCQ and CQ efficacy for management of viral infections and the probable mechanisms of action. The data were collected by searching "Hydroxychloroquine", "Choloroquine", "Viral infection", and names of various viral infections in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases from commencement to June 2020. Out of 95 search results, 74 most relevant works were gathered. EXPERT OPINION: HCQ/CQ showed acceptable efficacy in HIV especially as an adjuvant treatment beside routine HAART. However, for some viral infections such as ZIKA, EBOLA, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, human studies are lacking. In the COVID-19 pandemic, in vitro and preliminary human studies showed encouraging findings. However, later well-designed trials and retrospective studies with large sample size, not only reported non-significant efficacy but also showed more cardiac adverse reactions. Alkalinisation of acid vesicles is the most important mechanism of action.


title: Lausanne medical dispatch centre's response to COVID-19

text: The COVID-19 crisis is an unprecedented event. It is therefore essential for dispatch centres to share their experiences while the crisis is underway, similar to hospitals, so that we will all benefit from feedback.This letter to the editor describes the Lausanne dispatch centre response to COVID-19 and the lessons learned so far.


title: The challenges of covid-19 testing: Time for pathologists to rise to the occasion

text: An outbreak of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was first reported in Wuhan, China in the late December 1 Since then, the positive cases have increased exponentially to 1 4 million (as of 8 April 2020) 2 The ability of a country to cope with increasing number of Covid-19 testing is the ultimate test Teaching/university hospitals should pull their resources and man-power to provide the muchneeded assistance to the demand of Covid-19 testing Inadequate testing could result in unrecognised Covid-19 infected individuals, roaming freely in the population The other issue is the sensitivity of test if samples were obtained from different sites Classically, the confirmation of diagnosis of Covid-19 depends on real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis to detect viral genetic material in either a nasal swab or bronchioalveolar lavage sample Wang et al (2020) reported that bronchioalveolar lavage sample has the highest sensitivity in identifying Covid-19, followed by sputum and nasal swab with positive rates of 93%, 72% and 63%, respectively 3 Furthermore, they found that nasal swab contained the highest concentration of viral load as it required less number of cycles to achieve higher copy numbers In some patients, viral genetic material was also identified in faeces and blood 3 While the reliability of testing is a concern, the safety of the laboratory staff also has to be kept in mind In this issue, there are three review articles on Covid-19, first article described the general properties of coronavirus, second article described the diagnostic performance of Covid-19 serology assay and third article described the importance of the site of sampling for Covid-19 4-6


title: [Dynamic inflammatory response in a critically ill COVID-19 patient treated with corticosteroids]

text: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of corticosteroids therapy on the inflammatory response in a critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient. METHODS: A 55-year old female patient with critical ill COVID-19 was admitted in Taizhou Hospital on January 19, 2020. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone 80 mg on the 2nd day after admission. Thereafter, the dose was adjusted in a timely manner and the therapy lasted for 13 days. The peripheral lymphocyte subsets (CD3+T, CD4+ T, CD8+ T, NK cells, B cells), as well as serum levels of lymphocyte factors (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, IFN-Î³) were dynamically monitored. RESULTS: On D1 of admission, the numbers of peripheral blood CD3+ T, CD4+ T, CD8+ T, and NK cells were significantly lower than the normal range. With the improvement of the disease, the numbers of CD3+ T, CD8+ T and CD4 + T cells gradually recovered and showed a linear growth trend (linear fitting equation: Y=18.59X+109.4, P<0.05). On D2 of admission, the patient's IL-6 and IL-10 levels were significantly higher than normal values, IFN-Î³ was at a normal high value, and then rapidly decreased; IL-2, IL-4, and TNF-α were all in the normal range. On the D6 and D7, the IL-6 and IL-10 decreased to the normal range for the first time. On the D18, the sputum virus nucleic acid test was negative for the first time, and the fecal virus nucleic acid test was still positive; on the D20 the sputum and fecal virus nucleic acid test were both negative. On D34, the patient recovered and was discharged. At the discharge the muscle strength score of the patient was 44 and the daily life ability evaluation was 90. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of effective antiviral drugs, early use of appropriate doses of corticosteroids in critically ill patient with COVID-19 can quickly alleviate inflammatory response and improve clinical symptoms, however, it may reduce the number of T cells, and to adjust the dose in time is necessary.


COVID-19 response and containment strategies in the US, South Korea, and Iceland: Lessons learned and future directions


title: CO.ME.T.A. -- covid-19 media textual analysis. A dashboard for media monitoring

text: The focus of this paper is to trace how mass media, particularly newspapers, have addressed the issues about the containment of contagion or the explanation of epidemiological evolution. We propose an interactive dashboard: CO.ME.T.A.. During crises it is important to shape the best communication strategies in order to respond to critical situations. In this regard, it is important to monitor the information that mass media and social platforms convey. The dashboard allows to explore the mining of contents extracted and study the lexical structure that links the main discussion topics. The dashboard merges together four methods: text mining, sentiment analysis, textual network analysis and latent topic models. Results obtained on a subset of documents show not only a health-related semantic dimension, but it also extends to social-economic dimensions.


Editor's Introduction: The Postpandemic World


title: Electron currents from temporal gradients in tilted Dirac cone materials: Electric energy enabled by spacetime geometry

text: Tilted Dirac/Weyl fermions admit a geometric description in terms of an effective spacetime metric. Using this metric, we formulate the hydrodynamics theory for tilted Dirac/Weyl materials in $d+1$ spacetime dimensions. We find that the mingling of spacetime through the off-diagonal components of the metric gives rise to: (i) heat and electric currents proportional to the {\em temporal} gradient of temperature, $\partial_t T$ and (ii) a non-zero Hall condductance $\sigma^{ij}\propto \zeta^i\zeta^i$ where $\zeta^j$ parametrizes the tilt in $j$'th space direction. The finding (i) above suggests that naturally available sources of $\partial_t T$ in hot deserts can serve as new concept for the extraction of electricity from the spacetime geometry. We find a further tilt-induced non-Drude contribution to conductivity which can be experimentally disentangles from the usual Drude pole.


Publishing in the time of pandemic: Editorial policy of a dermatology journal during COVID-19


COVID-19 pandemic and cardiac imaging: EACVI recommendations on precautions, indications, prioritization, and protection for patients and healthcare personnel


title: First detection and genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 in an infected cat in France

text: After its first description in Wuhan (China), SARS-CoV-2 the agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapidly spread worldwide. Previous studies suggested that pets could be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated the putative infection by SARS-CoV-2 in 22 cats and 11 dogs from owners previously infected or suspected of being infected by SARS-CoV-2. For each animal, rectal, nasopharyngeal swabs and serum were taken. Swabs were submitted to RT-qPCR assays targeting 2 genes of SARS-CoV-2. All dogs were tested SARS-CoV-2 negative. One cat was tested positive by RT-qPCR on rectal swab. Nasopharyngeal swabs from this animal were tested negative. This cat showed mild respiratory and digestive signs. Serological analysis confirms the presence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 in both serum samples taken 10 days apart. Genome sequence analysis revealed that the cat SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the phylogenetic clade A2a like most of the French human SARS-CoV-2. This study reports for the first time the natural infection of a cat in France (near Paris) probably through their owners. There is currently no evidence that cats can spread COVID-19 and owners should not abandon their pets or compromise their welfare.


Life at the Editorial "COVID Frontline". The American Thoracic Society Journal Family


title: AiR -- An Augmented Reality Application for Visualizing Air Pollution

text: Air quality is a term used to describe the concentration levels of various pollutants in the air we breathe. The air quality, which is degrading rapidly across the globe, has been a source of great concern. Across the globe, governments are taking various measures to reduce air pollution. Bringing awareness about environmental pollution among the public plays a major role in controlling air pollution, as the programs proposed by governments require the support of the public. Though information on air quality is present on multiple portals such as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which provides Air Quality Index that could be accessed by the public. However, such portals are scarcely visited by the general public. Visualizing air quality in the location where an individual resides could help in bringing awareness among the public. This visualization could be rendered using Augmented Reality techniques. Considering the widespread usage of Android based mobile devices in India, and the importance of air quality visualization, we present AiR, as an Android based mobile application. AiR considers the air quality measured by CPCB, in a locality that is detected by the user's GPS or in a locality of user's choice, and visualizes various air pollutants present in the locality $(PM_1{}_0, PM_2{}_.{}_5, NO_2, SO_2, CO, O_3 \&NH_3)$ and displays them in the user's surroundings. AiR also creates awareness in an interactive manner about the different pollutants, sources, and their impacts on health.


title: Convalescent plasma in Covid-19: Possible mechanisms of action

text: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Therapeutic options including antimalarials, antivirals, and vaccines are under study. Meanwhile the current pandemic has called attention over old therapeutic tools to treat infectious diseases. Convalescent plasma (CP) constitutes the first option in the current situation, since it has been successfully used in other coronaviruses outbreaks. Herein, we discuss the possible mechanisms of action of CP and their repercussion in COVID-19 pathogenesis, including direct neutralization of the virus, control of an overactive immune system (i.e., cytokine storm, Th1/Th17 ratio, complement activation) and immunomodulation of a hypercoagulable state. All these benefits of CP are expected to be better achieved if used in non-critically hospitalized patients, in the hope of reducing morbidity and mortality.


Dispositivo de oxigenación con reservorio y PEEP (DORPEEP) en pacientes con dificultad respiratoria aguda por COVID-19./ Dispositivo de oxigenación con reservorio y PEEP (DORPEEP) en pacientes con dificultad respiratoria aguda por COVID-19./ Oxygenation device with reservoir and PEEP (ODRPEEP) in patients with acute respiratory distress due to COVID-19


title: [Strategies for vaccine development of COVID-19]

text: An epidemic of acute respiratory syndrome in humans, which appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019, was caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This disease was named as "Coronavirus Disease 2019" (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 was first identified as an etiological pathogen of COVID-19, belonging to the species of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV). The speed of both the geographical transmission and the sudden increase in numbers of cases is much faster than SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). COVID-19 is the first global pandemic caused by a coronavirus, which outbreaks in 211 countries/territories/areas. The vaccine against COVID-19, regarded as an effective prophylactic strategy for control and prevention, is being developed in about 90 institutions worldwide. The experiences and lessons encountered in the previous SARS and MERS vaccine research can be used for reference in the development of COVID-19 vaccine. The present paper hopes to provide some insights for COVID-19 vaccines researchers.


title: Rehabilitation Medicine Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

text: The COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the globe at a rapid rate, affecting large numbers of individuals in different countries with varying healthcare systems and infrastructure. In the United States, New York City has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the peak impact in this region has come earlier in this location than most other parts of the country. We report our experience preparing for this pandemic in a New York City academic medical center and its regional healthcare system, the issues confronted during the rise and peak of the number of cases, and the plans for the postpeak recovery and adjustment to the new reality of providing rehabilitation in an environment where COVID-19 remains prevalent.


The use of high-flow nasal oxygen in COVID-19


title: 2020 UK Lockdown Cyber Narratives: the Secure, the Insecure and the Worrying

text: On the 23rd March 2020, the UK entered a period of lockdown in the face of a deadly pandemic. While some were unable to work from home, many organisations were forced to move their activities online. Here, we discuss the technologies they used, from a privacy and security perspective. We also mention the communication failures that have exacerbated uncertainty and anxiety during the crisis. An organisation could be driven to move their activities online by a range of disasters, of which a global pandemic is only one. We seek, in this paper, to highlight the need for organisations to have contingency plans in place for this kind of eventuality. The insecure usages and poor communications we highlight are a symptom of a lack of advance pre-pandemic planning. We hope that this paper will help organisations to plan more effectively for the future.


title: Chilblain-like lesions in pediatrics dermatological outpatients during the COVID-19 outbreak

text: In Spain, with full confinement measures and coinciding with the pandemic, pediatricians and dermatologists have received, through teledermatology/teleconsultation and social networks, a barrage of diverse images, which have subsequently allowed us to approach some of them by direct physical examination of early and late skin manifestations associated with SARS-Cov-2 infection. We designed a retrospective, cross-sectional study to evaluate the dermatological care of all those patients under the age of 16 who consulted, in person or telematically, for acral lesions (chilblain-like or erythema multiforme-like) in the context of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, since 15 March 2020 to 24 April 2020, both included in the health area of the Hospital Universitario San Cecilio de Granada. Of all the patients collected, 18 (66%) were male and the overall mean age was 14.44 years. All lacked a personal history of interest and denied previous episodes of chilblains or Raynaud's phenomenon/disease. The clinic was limited to purpuric lesions located on acral regions distributed on hands and feet. Dermatologists and pediatricians should be aware of the lesions associated with COVID-19 infection and their possible complications. It remains to be identified if there are different dermatological patterns in the pediatric and adult population.


Respiratory Pathophysiology of Mechanically Ventilated Patients with COVID-19: A Cohort Study


Diagnosed With COVID-19, Nope Just Cabin Fever: The Fundamentals of Staying at Home


title: Rationeel gebruik van ademhalingsbeschermingsmaskers./ [Rational use of respiratory protective equipment: advice for health care professionals in time of COVID-19]

text: The current COVID-19 pandemic has led to a worldwide shortage of respiratory protective equipment. In order to offer maximum protection against infection for all healthcare workers, we need to optimise our use of the available equipment. This article provides practical advice on which type of mask is indicated in what specific situation, what requirements the mask should meet and how to optimise the local workflow, including the re-use of masks after decontamination.


title: The right to know: ethical implications of antibody testing for healthcare workers and overlooked societal implications

text: After the initial surge in cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), the outbreak has been managed differently in different countries. In the USA, it has been managed in many different ways between states, cities and even counties. This disparity is slowly becoming more and more pronounced with the advent of antibody testing. Although many argue over the potential merits of antibody testing as an immunity passport to allow the economy to restart, there are other implications that stand at the heart of the bioethical debate that are often overlooked. Particularly with COVID-19, there are many uncertainties and the discourse alone of antibodies presumes misinformation that may outweigh the epidemiological benefits of antibody testing. Although this paper does not seek to eliminate antibody testing, it does highlight the need for appropriate counselling both on a personal level with each patient but on a more global level. This moral standard of appropriate education is key to allowing the continued autonomy needed during this pandemic.


COVID-19, anxiety, sleep disturbances and suicide


title: Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal in the era of COVID-19

text: The global health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has brought about previously unimaginable changes to all of health care, including the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. Given these dramatic changes, we pose this editorial to contemplate our mission and how we can best serve the field. We raise questions about how psychiatric rehabilitation will evolve and restate our steadfast commitment to publishing impactful research that shapes the field. We also remain hopeful, knowing psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners, researchers, and participants are pragmatic, persistent, and resilient, and will find opportunities for creativity and innovation even during this difficult time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


The possible beneficial adjuvant effect of influenza vaccine to minimize the severity of COVID-19


Neurotropism of SARS-CoV 2: Mechanisms and manifestations


COVID-19 and beyond


What next for the coronavirus response?


Clinical Implications of Universal Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Testing in Pregnancy


title: [Challenges and countermeasures on Chinese malaria elimination programme during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak]

text: Since the end of 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extensively epidemic in China, which not only seriously threatens the safety and health of Chinese people, but also challenges the management of other infectious diseases. Currently, there are still approximately three thousand malaria cases imported into China every year. If the diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases as well as the investigation and response of the epidemic foci are not carried out timely, it may endanger patients'lives and cause the possible of secondary transmission, which threatens the achievements of malaria elimination in China. Due to the extensive spread and high transmission ability of the COVID-19, there is a possibility of virus infections among malaria cases during the medical care-seeking behaviors and among healthcare professionals during clinical diagnosis and treatment, sample collection and testing and epidemiological surveys. This paper analyzes the challenges of the COVID-19 for Chinese malaria elimination programme, and proposes the countermeasures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, so as to provide the reference for healthcare professionals.


Vets can help government tackle Covid-19


title: Molecular analysis of Spiophanes bombyx complex (Annelida: Spionidae) with description of a new species

text: Spiophanes bombyx (Claparède, 1870) from the Gulf of Naples, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy, was the first described Spiophanes with fronto-lateral horns on the prostomium. It was also considered the only horned species occurring in European waters. Our sequence data of five gene fragments suggest the presence of two horned sibling Spiophanes species in northern Europe: S. cf. bombyx in the North and the Norwegian seas, and S. cf. convexus in Brittany, northern France, and Bay of Biscay, northern Spain. Spiophanes cf. bombyx worms are genetically close to a single examined specimen of S. bombyx from Venice Lagoon, Italy but their conspecificity should be verified by further study. Our sequence data show that horned Spiophanes from the North Pacific are genetically distant from horned European species, and that S. uschakowi Zachs, 1933, originally described from the Sea of Japan (East Sea) is a valid species. The data also suggest the presence of two horned sibling Spiophanes species in the North East Pacific: S. hakaiensis Radashevsky & Pankova, n. sp. distributed from Alaska south to about Point Conception, and S. norrisi Meißner & Blank, 2009, distributed from San Francisco Bay south to Baja California Sur, Mexico. Spiophanes from South America, morphologically similar to S. norrisi, are suggested to belong to a new species. Molecular data also suggest the presence of two sibling species among the worms from northern Europe identified by morphology as S. kroyeri Grube, 1860. Worms from the Barents Sea and northern part of the North Sea are tentatively referred to as S. cf. kroyeri; worms from the northern and central parts of the North Sea and from the Bay of Biscay, northern Spain, are tentatively referred to as S. cf. cirrata M. Sars in G.O. Sars, 1872. Sequence data also show that S. duplex from California is genetically different from morphologically similar worms from South America. The South American worms are referred to resurrected S. soederstroemi Hartman, 1953 which was originally described from off Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and then considered as a junior synonym of S. duplex. Analysis of divergence times of Spiophanes lineages suggested that the origin of the most recent common ancestor of horned Spiophanes with metameric nuchal organs was around 11.1 mya (95% HPD: 5.1-19.0 mya) and that the divergence of the North Atlantic and North Pacific lineages was around 7.9 mya (95% HPD: 4.1-13.3 mya). The North Atlantic lineage was estimated to have diverged 4.8 mya (95% HPD: 2.2-8.6 mya), resulting in the origin of S. cf. bombyx and S. cf. convexus. The North Pacific lineage was estimated to have diverged first by the isolation and speciation of S. norrisi 1.7 mya (95% HPD: 2.3-1.0 mya), and then by the isolation and speciation of S. uschakowi and S. hakaiensis n. sp. 1.3 mya (95% HPD: 2.0-0.7 mya). The estimates place the divergences soon after maximum glacial period in the North Pacific (2.4-3.0 mya).


title: Aflatoxin and ochratoxin A residues in supplementary foods used for wild birds

text: Provision of supplementary food for garden birds is practiced on a large scale in multiple countries. While this resource has benefits for wild bird populations, concern has been expressed regarding the potential for contamination of foodstuffs by mycotoxins, and the implications this might have for wildlife health. We investigated whether aflatoxin (AF) and ochratoxin A (OA) residues are present in foodstuffs sold for wild bird consumption at point of sale in Great Britain using high pressure liquid chromatography analyses. The hypothesis that production of these mycotoxins occurs in British climatic conditions, or under storage conditions after the point of sale, was tested under experimental conditions but was not proved by our study. While the majority of peanut samples were negative for AF residues, 10% (10/98) of samples at point of sale and 11% (13/119) of those across the storage and climate exposure treatment replicates contained AFB1 that exceeded the maximum permitted limit of 20 µg/kg. No significant difference was found in the detection of either mycotoxin between branded and non-branded products. The clinical significance, if any, of exposure of wild birds to mycotoxins requires further investigation. Nevertheless, the precautionary principle should be adopted and best practice steps to reduce the likelihood of wild bird exposure to mycotoxins are recommended.


title: Evaluation of the potential incidence of COVID-19 and effectiveness of containment measures in Spain: a data-driven approach

text: BACKGROUND: We are currently experiencing an unprecedented challenge, managing and containing an outbreak of a new coronavirus disease known as COVID-19. While China-where the outbreak started-seems to have been able to contain the growth of the epidemic, different outbreaks are nowadays present in multiple countries. Nonetheless, authorities have taken action and implemented containment measures, even if not everything is known. METHODS: To facilitate this task, we have studied the effect of different containment strategies that can be put into effect. Our work referred initially to the situation in Spain as of February 28, 2020, where a few dozens of cases had been detected, but has been updated to match the current situation as of 13 April. We implemented an SEIR metapopulation model that allows tracing explicitly the spatial spread of the disease through data-driven stochastic simulations. RESULTS: Our results are in line with the most recent recommendations from the World Health Organization, namely, that the best strategy is the early detection and isolation of individuals with symptoms, followed by interventions and public recommendations aimed at reducing the transmissibility of the disease, which, although might not be sufficient for disease eradication, would produce as a second order effect a delay of several days in the raise of the number of infected cases. CONCLUSIONS: Many quantitative aspects of the natural history of the disease are still unknown, such as the amount of possible asymptomatic spreading or the role of age in both the susceptibility and mortality of the disease. However, preparedness plans and mitigation interventions should be ready for quick and efficacious deployment globally. The scenarios evaluated here through data-driven simulations indicate that measures aimed at reducing individuals' flow are much less effective than others intended for early case identification and isolation. Therefore, resources should be directed towards detecting as many and as fast as possible the new cases and isolate them.


title: [Standard procedures in dialysis during the Covid-19 epidemic]

text: Scope: The aim of this document has been to define standard procedures for dealing with dialysis patients once the first cases of novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV (Covid-19) were confirmed among the Italian population. Applicability: These procedures, that refer exclusively to the hospital's dialysis rooms, are currently implemented at the ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo in Milan and two smaller centers in the Milan area. Description: We describe the preemptive measures adopted by the staff at our dialysis unit since 24/02/2020, in order to slow down the transmission of Covid-19. They have allowed us to adopt a uniform approach towards all patients, streamlining the way we identify and deal with suspected, likely and confirmed Coronavirus infections. To start with, all patients coming to the hospital for their dialytic session have been treated as potentially infectious and everybody has been following closely the standard protocols regarding personal protective equipment (PPE).


Positive outcome in a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 and common variable immunodeficiency after intravenous immunoglobulin


title: COVID-19 Public Opinion and Emotion Monitoring System Based on Time Series Thermal New Word Mining

text: With the spread and development of new epidemics, it is of great reference value to identify the changing trends of epidemics in public emotions. We designed and implemented the COVID-19 public opinion monitoring system based on time series thermal new word mining. A new word structure discovery scheme based on the timing explosion of network topics and a Chinese sentiment analysis method for the COVID-19 public opinion environment is proposed. Establish a"Scrapy-Redis-Bloomfilter"distributed crawler framework to collect data. The system can judge the positive and negative emotions of the reviewer based on the comments, and can also reflect the depth of the seven emotions such as Hopeful, Happy, and Depressed. Finally, we improved the sentiment discriminant model of this system and compared the sentiment discriminant error of COVID-19 related comments with the Jiagu deep learning model. The results show that our model has better generalization ability and smaller discriminant error. We designed a large data visualization screen, which can clearly show the trend of public emotions, the proportion of various emotion categories, keywords, hot topics, etc., and fully and intuitively reflect the development of public opinion.


Rapid Implementation of Telehealth in Hospital Psychiatry in Response to COVID-19


title: Unexpected Biliopancreatic Limb Obstruction after Gastric Bypass Revision

text: INTRODUCTION: Biliopancreatic limb obstruction is a surgical emergency in patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery. This case report presents an unexpected cause of biliopancreatic limb obstruction and the importance of prompt intervention. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A 37-year-old woman presented with complaints of weight regain (BMI increased from 27 to 33.3 kg/m2) and bile reflux and was found to have marginal ulcers on endoscopy. She had undergone loop gastric bypass with Braun anastomosis in 2009 at another center for morbid obesity (BMI = 43 kg/m2). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) was created after the separation of gastro-jejunostomy (GJ) and jejuno-jejunostomy (JJ). On the fifth postoperative day, the patient was readmitted with signs of peritonitis. Urgent relaparoscopy showed Biliopancreatic limb (BP) obstruction. It was then and that we understood intraoperatively the uncut Roux-en-Y caused stricture between the previous GJ and JJ staple lines. Side-to-side jejuno-jejunostomy between the proximal dilated and the distal collapsed biliopancreatic limb was performed. RESULT: The patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged after drain removal. CONCLUSION: Biliopancreatic limb obstruction requires prompt decision for relaparoscopy. Timely intervention is necessary to prevent postoperative morbidity. Reviewing the operative video or notes of the primary surgery can minimize the chance of mismanagement during revision surgery.


COVID-19: a catalyst for flexibility and creativity in neurology


Letter to the Editor: "Our Response to COVID-19 as Endocrinologists and Diabetologists"


title: Model studies on the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

text: We study the increases of infections and deaths in Sweden caused by COVID-19 with several different models: Firstly an analytical susceptible-infected (SI) model and the standard susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model. Then within the SIR framework we study the susceptible-infected-deceased (SID) correlations. All models reproduce well the number of infected cases and give similar predictions. What causes us deep concern is the large number of deaths projected by the SI and SID models. Our analysis shows that, irrespective of the possible uncertainty of our model prediction, the next few days can be critical for determining the future evolution of the death cases (Updated April 02).


D-dimer is Associated with Severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Pooled Analysis


title: Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Clinical SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Bacterial or Viral Superinfection and Colonization

text: BACKGROUND: More than 2 months separated the initial description of SARS-CoV-2 and discovery of its widespread dissemination in the United States. Despite this lengthy interval, implementation of specific quantitative reverse transcription (qRT)-PCR-based SARS-CoV-2 tests in the US has been slow, and testing is still not widely available. Metagenomic sequencing offers the promise of unbiased detection of emerging pathogens, without requiring prior knowledge of the identity of the responsible agent or its genomic sequence. METHODS: To evaluate metagenomic approaches in the context of the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, laboratory-confirmed positive and negative samples from Seattle, WA were evaluated by metagenomic sequencing, with comparison to a 2019 reference genomic database created before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: Within 36 h our results showed clear identification of a novel human Betacoronavirus, closely related to known Betacoronaviruses of bats, in laboratory-proven cases of SARS-CoV-2. A subset of samples also showed superinfection or colonization with human parainfluenza virus 3 or Moraxella species, highlighting the need to test directly for SARS-CoV-2 as opposed to ruling out an infection using a viral respiratory panel. Samples negative for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR were also negative by metagenomic analysis, and positive for Rhinovirus A and C. Unlike targeted SARS-CoV-2 qRT-PCR testing, metagenomic analysis of these SARS-CoV-2 negative samples identified candidate etiological agents for the patients' respiratory symptoms. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these results demonstrate the value of metagenomic analysis in the monitoring and response to this and future viral pandemics.


The halo sign as a chest computed tomography finding of COVID-19


title: Methylation Pathways and SARS-CoV-2 Lung Infiltration and Cell Membrane-Virus Fusion Are Both Subject to Epigenetics

text: The recent pandemic SARS-CoV-2 outbreak affects all kinds of individuals worldwide. The health, social, and economic impacts of the pandemic are dramatic, and vaccines or specific treatment options are not yet available. The only approaches that we currently have available to stop the epidemic are those of classical epidemic control, such as case isolation, contact tracing and quarantine, physical distancing, and hygiene measures. It is therefore essential to find further preventive measures and possible interventions that can slow down the number of infected individuals and decrease the severity of disease when affected by SARS-CoV-2. It seems that epigenetic mechanisms are an important part of the pathophysiology and illness severity of COVID-19. These mechanisms have been identified in SARS-CoV-2 but also in other viral infections. If and when these mechanisms are confirmed, then epigenetic interventions influencing DNA methylation could be indicated as primary and/or secondary preventive options.


title: Navigating the Clean Energy Transition in the COVID-19 Crisis

text: Bjarne Steffen is a senior researcher at ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group. His research addresses policies related to energy innovation and the role of finance in the energy transition. He previously worked at MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, the World Economic Forum, and a strategy consultancy. Bjarne holds a Master's in economics from the University of Mannheim and a PhD in energy economics from the University of Duisburg-Essen. Florian Egli is a PhD candidate at ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group. His research focuses on the role of finance in the energy transition and climate finance more generally. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, is associated with the think tank foraus as its former vice president, and held a Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs in 2015 and 2016. Florian holds a Master's in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva. Michael Pahle is head of the working group "Climate and Energy Policy" at the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research. His research focuses on carbon pricing and power market design. He holds a Master's in Physics from Potsdam University and a PhD in economics from TU Berlin. Tobias S. Schmidt is Assistant Professor and the head of ETH Zurich's Energy Politics Group, an interdisciplinary group analyzing the interaction of energy policy and its underlying politics with technological change in the energy sector. His research covers both developed and developing countries. Tobias holds a Bachelor's and Master's of Science in electrical engineering (energy focus) from the Technical University Munich and a PhD from ETH Zurich in management, technology, and economics.


title: SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against rechallenge in rhesus macaques

text: An understanding of protective immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is critical for vaccine and public health strategies aimed at ending the global COVID-19 pandemic. A key unanswered question is whether infection with SARS-CoV-2 results in protective immunity against re-exposure. We developed a rhesus macaque model of SARS-CoV-2 infection and observed that macaques had high viral loads in the upper and lower respiratory tract, humoral and cellular immune responses, and pathologic evidence of viral pneumonia. Following initial viral clearance, animals were rechallenged with SARS-CoV-2 and showed 5 log10 reductions in median viral loads in bronchoalveolar lavage and nasal mucosa compared with primary infection. Anamnestic immune responses following rechallenge suggested that protection was mediated by immunologic control. These data show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induced protective immunity against re-exposure in nonhuman primates.


Myocarditis detected after COVID-19 recovery


Required COVID Mandatories


title: C19-TraNet: an empirical, global index-case transmission network of SARS-CoV-2

text: Originating in Wuhan, the novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has astonished health-care systems across globe due to its rapid and simultaneous spread to the neighboring and distantly located countries. To gain the systems level understanding of the role of global transmission routes in the COVID-19 spread, in this study, we have developed the first, empirical, global, index-case transmission network of SARS-CoV-2 termed as C19-TraNet. We manually curated the travel history of country wise index-cases using government press releases, their official social media handles and online news reports to construct this C19-TraNet that is a spatio-temporal, sparse, growing network comprising of 187 nodes and 199 edges and follows a power-law degree distribution. To model the growing C19-TraNet, a novel stochastic scale free (SSF) algorithm is proposed that accounts for stochastic addition of both nodes as well as edges at each time step. A peculiar connectivity pattern in C19-TraNet is observed, characterized by a fourth degree polynomial growth curve, that significantly diverges from the average random connectivity pattern obtained from an ensemble of its 1,000 SSF realizations. Partitioning the C19-TraNet, using edge betweenness, it is found that most of the large communities are comprised of a heterogeneous mixture of countries belonging to different world regions suggesting that there are no spatial constraints on the spread of disease. This work characterizes the superspreaders that have very quickly transported the virus, through multiple transmission routes, to long range geographical locations alongwith their local neighborhoods.


title: Role of Telehealth in the Management of COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Previous SARS, MERS, and Ebola Outbreaks

text: Concerns about the prevention and management of COVID-19 are on the rise, as it is crucial in contagious epidemics that travel and transfer of the patients be minimal for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-ups. Telemedicine or telehealth can play an important role, especially with previous successful experiences in the management of acute infectious respiratory epidemics such as SARS and MERS. In order to better control the rapid spread of coronavirus and manage the COVID-19 crisis, both developed and developing countries can improve the efficiency of their health system by replacing a proportion of face-to-face clinical encounters with telehealth. Recent technological advancement facilitates this reform, but there is a need for national or state-wide rules and regulations to be adapted accordingly.


title: Implementation of Remote Clinics in urology practice during the COVID-19 era: What have we learned?/ Implementacion de la teleconsulta en la practica urologica durante la era Covid-19: que hemos aprendido?

text: The COVID-19 pandemic has requiredd rastic measures for an attempt in controlling its spread Health resources and facilities are being destined for the treatment of critically ill infected patients During the past weeks, we, as urologists have faced increasingly difficult changes in practice, as out patient activity andelective surgeries must be postponed in order to save resources and limit the mobilization of patients and faculty During this conflictive situation, telehealth medicine can provide adequate support using technological tools and trying to simulate face-to-face consults with the use of video or telephone calls However, many out patient clinics and facilities are not ready yet for telehealth as their experience in this area is low The benefits for telemedicine in urology are continuing urologic outpatient follow-up, providing recommendations and prescriptions, and the triage of patients who will need urgent procedures Urology residency training has suffered an abrupt disruption nowadays as outpatient, surgical and academic meetings are cancelled In this scenario, virtual strategies and "smart learning" activities are being used to continue education We provide a review of the latest published literature regarding the use of telehealth medicine or telemedicine for the modern urology practice, along side our recommendations and conclusions La actual pandemia por COVID-19 ha requeridola implementacion de medidas drasticas para frenar su avance Las instalaciones y recursos sanitarios se estan destinando de forma total o parcial para la atencion de pacientes criticos Los urologos, nos hemos encontrado durante las semanas pasadas con cambios importantes que dificultan nuestra practica clinica diaria Las actividades ambulatorias como consultas externas y procedimientos ambulatorios, asi como las intervenciones quirurgicas, han tenido que ser suspendidas o retrasadas Mientras dure esta situacion, la actividad medica telematica puede proveer un soporte adecuado utilizando herramientas tecnologicas y tratando de simular las consultas medicas con video llamadas o llamadas por telefono Pero muchos servicios y departamentos medico-quirurgicos no se encuentran listos para implementar una practica de consultas telematicas a gran escala porque su experiencia es escasa Los beneficios de la telemedicina en urologia son permitir el seguimiento de pacientes, dar recomendaciones, prescribir medicamentos, y realizar un triaje de que pacientes precisan una atencion presencial en urgencias Los programas de formacion de residentes de urologia tambien han sufrido una interrupcion importante de sus actividades cotidianas, ya que se han suspendido consultas, cirugias y actividad academica En esta situacion, el uso de recursos virtuales y el aprendizaje inteligente se estan utilizando para mantener la docencia El objetivo de este articulo es proporcionar una revision de la mas reciente literatura acerca del uso de telemedicina en la practica urologica moderna, con nuestras recomendaciones y conclusiones


title: [Implementation of Remote Clinics in urology practice during the COVID-19 era: What have we learned?]

text: The COVID-19 pandemic has requiredd rastic measures for an attempt in controlling its spread Health resources and facilities are being destined for the treatment of critically ill infected patients During the past weeks, we, as urologists have faced increasingly difficult changes in practice, as out patient activity and elective surgeries must be postponed in order to save resources and limit the mobilization of patients and faculty During this conflictive situation, telehealth medicine can provide adequate support using technological tools and trying to simulate face-to-face consults with the use of video or telephone calls However, many out patient clinics and facilities are not ready yet for telehealth as their experience in this area is low The benefits for telemedicine in urology are continuing urologic outpatient follow-up, providing recommendations and prescriptions, and the triage of patients who will need urgent procedures Urology residency training has suffered an abrupt disruption nowadays as outpatient, surgical and academic meetings are cancelled In this scenario, virtual strategies and "smart learning" activities are being used to continue education We provide a review of the latest published literature regarding the use of telehealth medicine or telemedicine for the modern urology practice, along side our recommendations and conclusions