scholarly journals Co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants B.1.1.7 and P.1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Stefanelli ◽  
Filippo Trentini ◽  
Giorgio Guzzetta ◽  
Valentina Marziano ◽  
Alessia Mammone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Immune Evasion ◽  
National Level ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Cross Protection ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
The World ◽  
National Prevalence ◽  
Italian Territory

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (B.1.1.7, P.1 and B.1.351) have emerged in different continents of the world. To date, little information is available on their ecological interactions. Based on two genomic surveillance surveys conducted on February 18 and March 18, 2021 across the whole Italian territory and covering over 3,000 clinical samples, we found significant co-circulation of B.1.1.7 and P.1. We showed that B.1.1.7 was already dominant on February 18 in a majority of regions/autonomous provinces (national prevalence 54%) and almost completely replaced historical lineages by March 18 (dominant in all regions/autonomous provinces, national prevalence 86%). At the same time, we found a substantial proportion of cases of the P.1 lineage on February 18, almost exclusively in Central Italy (with an overall prevalence in the macro-area of 18%), which remained at similar values on March 18, suggesting the inability by this lineage to outcompete B.1.1.7. Only 9 cases from variant B.1.351 were identified in the two surveys. At the national level, we estimated a mean relative transmissibility of B.1.1.7 (compared to historical lineages) ranging between 1.55 and 1.57 (with confidence intervals between 1.45 and 1.66). The relative transmissibility of P.1 estimated at the national level varied according to the assumed degree of cross-protection granted by infection with other lineages and ranged from 1.12 (95%CI 1.03-1.23) in the case of complete immune evasion by P.1 to 1.39 (95%CI 1.26-1.56) in the case of complete cross-protection. These observations may have important consequences on the assessment of future pandemic scenarios. 

scholarly journals Depression among health care students in the time of COVID-19: the mediating role of resilience in the hopelessness–depression relationship

2021 ◽  
pp. 008124632199445
Author(s):  
Tammy-lee Pretorius
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Traumatic Event ◽  
National Level ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Health Care Students ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
First Case ◽  
Hopelessness Depression ◽  
The World

COVID-19 spread rapidly across the world, and by March 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was identified in South Africa. Lockdown-related measures such as restricted movement and isolation were implemented to contain the virus. Combined with these measures, factors such as economic decline, job losses, and food shortages can cause numerous mental health sequelae such as depression. Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness as well as cases of suicide have been reported around the world due to the pandemic and the associated feelings of anxiety and depression. The aims of this study were to investigate levels of hopelessness and depression in a sample of health care students. A random sample of students ( N = 174) enrolled in a health sciences programme at the University of the Western Cape completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and a three-item Resilience Scale. The results revealed high levels of hopelessness and depression compared to previously reported normative data for these scales. In addition, the indirect effects of hopelessness on depression were significant, demonstrating the mediating role of resilience in the hopelessness–depression relationship. These results highlight a call for universities to take proactive measures in providing students with free and easily accessible resources to help them cope and manage stress during a traumatic event. More importantly, at a national level, preventive measures should be implemented to strengthen resilience in young adults.

scholarly journals The Resolution of International Commercial Disputes – What Role (if any) for Continental Europe?

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Giesela Rühl
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
National Level ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Traditional Market ◽  
Commercial Courts

The past sixteen years have witnessed the proliferation of international commercial courts around the world. However, up until recently, this was largely an Asian and a Middle Eastern phenomenon. Only during the past decade have Continental European countries, notably Germany, France and the Netherlands, joined the bandwagon and started to create new judicial bodies for international commercial cases. Driven by the desire to attract high-volume commercial litigation, these bodies try to offer international businesses a better dispute settlement framework. But what are their chances of success? Will more international litigants decide to settle their disputes in these countries? In this essay, I argue that, despite its recently displayed activism, Continental Europe lags behind on international commercial courts. In fact, although the various European initiatives are laudable, most cannot compete with the traditional market leaders, especially the London Commercial Court, or with new rivals in Asia and the Middle East. If Continental Europe wants a role in the international litigation market, it must embrace more radical change. And this change will most likely have to happen on the European––not the national––level.

scholarly journals Representation of Slovak Research Information (A Case Study)

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Danica Zendulková ◽  
Boris Rysuľa ◽  
Andrea Putalová
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
National Level ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Research Information ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Central Register ◽  
The World ◽  
Mutual Relations ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
The Eu

In the light of the increasing importance of the societal impact of research, this article attempts to address the question as to how social sciences and humanities (SSH) research outputs from 2019 are represented in Slovak research portfolios in comparison with those of the EU-28 and the world. The data used for the analysis originate from the R&D SK CRIS and bibliographic Central Register of Publication Activities (CREPČ) national databases, and WoS Core Collection/InCites. The research data were appropriate for the analysis at the time they were structured, on the national level; of high quality and consistency; and covering as many components as possible and in mutual relations. The data resources should enable the research outputs to be assigned to research categories. The analysis prompts the conclusion that social sciences and humanities research outputs in Slovakia in 2019 are appropriately represented and in general show an increasing trend. This can be documented by the proportion represented by the SSH research projects and other entities involved in the overall Slovak research outputs, and even the higher ratio of SSH research publications in comparison with the EU-28 and the world. Recommendations of a technical character include research data management, data quality, and the integration of individual systems and available analytical tools.

scholarly journals Environmental Isolates of Azole-Resistant Aspergillus fumigatus in Germany

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (7) ◽  
pp. 4356-4359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Bader ◽  
Jana Tünnermann ◽  
Anna Dudakova ◽  
Marut Tangwattanachuleeporn ◽  
Michael Weig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Resistance ◽  
Aspergillus Fumigatus ◽  
Antifungal Drug ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Environmental Isolates ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Antifungal Drug Resistance ◽  
The World

ABSTRACTAzole antifungal drug resistance inAspergillus fumigatusis an emerging problem in several parts of the world. Here we investigated the distribution of such strains in soils from Germany. At a general positivity rate of 12%, most prevalently, we found strains with the TR34/L98H and TR46/Y121F/T289A alleles, dispersed along a corridor across northern Germany. Comparison of the distributions of resistance alleles and genotypes between environment and clinical samples suggests the presence of local clinical clusters.

scholarly journals HCV Detection, Discrimination, and Genotyping Technologies

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 3423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shrikant Warkad ◽  
Satish Nimse ◽  
Keum-Soo Song ◽  
Taisun Kim
Keyword(s):  
Hepatitis C ◽  
Hcv Infection ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Infected People ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 71 million people were living with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection worldwide in 2015. Each year, about 399,000 HCV-infected people succumb to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure. Therefore, screening of HCV infection with simple, rapid, but highly sensitive and specific methods can help to curb the global burden on HCV healthcare. Apart from the determination of viral load/viral clearance, the identification of specific HCV genotype is also critical for successful treatment of hepatitis C. This critical review focuses on the technologies used for the detection, discrimination, and genotyping of HCV in clinical samples. This article also focuses on advantages and disadvantages of the reported methods used for HCV detection, quantification, and genotyping.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary approaches to the new paradigm of the global financial and monetary architecture after the Covid 19 pandemic crisis in correlation with the social problems in the EU countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 01008
Author(s):  
Ghenadie Ciobanu ◽  
Raluca Florentina Cretu ◽  
Mihai Dinu ◽  
Florin Dobre
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
National Level ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Economic Problem ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

Research background: How will the world change after the pandemic? What will be the trends of the global economy after the pandemic in the conditions of digital transformations and the impact of other cutting-edge technologies that will change both the global paradigms of the world economy and the global financial and monetary architecture? It is a problem both globally and in each country. Purpose of the article: In this article we aim to examine the processes of transformation of the financial architecture worldwide in the current conditions of financial-monetary globalization, but also of the revolutionary transformations of digitalization and cybersecurity of national, regional, and global financial systems. Research method: We start from the historical approach of the world financial and monetary phenomenon in correlation with the social evolutions. Another method of research is longitudinal: the study of the world financial and monetary phenomenon in time in the context of building the new paradigm of development at the global level with the transition of building paradigms at the national level. In this context, the statistical method and the method of collecting statistical information are also necessary. Findings & Value added: In the conditions when many countries face various serious problems of social, demographic, mass population migration, imbalances in labor markets, declining quality of life, the new international financial-monetary paradigms, but also regional and national ones demand to be correlated by promoting current policies and building economic, financial-monetary and social systems that correspond to solving these socio-economic problem.

scholarly journals How Results are Created: Methodological Approaches to the Design of Educational Outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-23
Author(s):  
K.A. Barannikov ◽  
I.M. Remorenko
Keyword(s):  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
National Level ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Educational Standards ◽  
Outcome Based Education ◽  
The World ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
New Education

The authors make retrospective analyze of "outcome-based education" and “competence-based education” concepts evolution. National educational standards and curricula all around the world have gone through dramatic transformation over the last 20 years. New education models require new methodology for designing educational outcomes. In the paper, based on the analysis of international experience, a framework for designing outcomes is proposed. Authors analyze Canada, UK, Finland, Australia, USA experience. Also terminology of meta-subject and subject outcomes are discusses in the paper. The framework presented by the authors is applicable both for school and teacher curricula, and at the national level, when formulating standards or example currucula.

scholarly journals Novel Nested-Seq Approach for SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time Epidemiology and In-Depth Mutational Profiling in Wastewater

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (16) ◽  
pp. 8498
Author(s):  
Margaritis Avgeris ◽  
Panagiotis G. Adamopoulos ◽  
Aikaterini Galani ◽  
Marieta Xagorari ◽  
Dimitrios Gourgiotis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Nested Pcr ◽  
Mutational Analysis ◽  
National Level ◽  
Rna Stability ◽  
3D Structure ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
Alpha Variant

Considering the lack of effective treatments against COVID-19, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is emerging as a cost-effective approach for real-time population-wide SARS-CoV-2 monitoring. Here, we report novel molecular assays for sensitive detection and mutational/variant analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Highly stable regions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA were identified by RNA stability analysis and targeted for the development of novel nested PCR assays. Targeted DNA sequencing (DNA-seq) was applied for the analysis and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 mutations/variants, following hexamers-based reverse transcription and nested PCR-based amplification of targeted regions. Three-dimensional (3D) structure models were generated to examine the predicted structural modification caused by genomic variants. WBE of SARS-CoV-2 revealed to be assay dependent, and significantly improved sensitivity achieved by assay combination (94%) vs. single-assay screening (30%–60%). Targeted DNA-seq allowed the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 mutations/variants in wastewater, which agreed with COVID-19 patients’ sequencing data. A mutational analysis indicated the prevalence of D614G (S) and P323L (RdRP) variants, as well as of the Β.1.1.7/alpha variant of concern, in agreement with the frequency of Β.1.1.7/alpha variant in clinical samples of the same period of the third pandemic wave at the national level. Our assays provide an innovative cost-effective platform for real-time monitoring and early-identification of SARS-CoV-2 variants at community/population levels.

scholarly journals Intellectual Property in Clinical Research - the Obstacles on the Road

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-172
Author(s):  
Iulianna Lupasco ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Clinical Research ◽  
National Level ◽  
Scientific Field ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
The Road ◽  
Scientific Innovation ◽  
The World ◽  
On The Road

Intellectual property behind the scenery of clinical research present a very special issue in scientific field presenting a deep underestimation of the main precious production of scientific researchers – production of mind, intellect, knowledge, clinical practice and research. In this article are highlighted main questions the young researches and not only young ones face while generating ideas, developing into nice projects. In this topic are discussed the main types of intellectual property in clinical research with a short introduction how the law protects them on a national level and why intellectual property is important for every clinical scientist. The literature review is closely intertwined with our own observations over the years in terms of intellectual property. Finally, the main benefits of intellectual property protection for clinical researchers will be presented empowering with new contacts and scientific innovation leaders from other places of the world.

A prospective nationwide observational study of agreement of antigen tests on oral pharyngeal swabs or less invasive testing with RT-qPCR, for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in adults: Protocol description (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uffe Vest Schneider ◽  
Jenny Dahl Knudsen ◽  
Anders Koch ◽  
Nikolai Søren Kirkby ◽  
Jan Gorm Lisby
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Reference Method ◽  
Lateral Flow ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Sampling Location ◽  
Analytical Sensitivity ◽  
Clinical Sensitivity ◽  
Antigen Tests

BACKGROUND The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented level of world-wide testing for epidemiologic and diagnostic purposes, and due to the extreme need for tests, the gold standard reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) testing capacity has been unable to meet the overall global testing demand. Consequently, although current literature has shown the sensitivity of rapid antigen tests (RATs) to be inferior to RT-qPCR, RATs have been implemented on a large scale without solid data on performance. OBJECTIVE This study will compare analytical and clinical sensitivities and specificities of 50 lateral flow or laboratory based RATs and three Strand Invasion Based Amplification (SIBA)-rt-PCR tests from 30 manufacturers to RT-qPCR on samples obtained from the deep oropharynx. In addition, the study will compare sensitivities and specificities of the included RATs as well as RT-qPCR on clinical samples obtained from the deep oropharynx, anterior nasal cavity, saliva, deep nasopharynx and expired air to RT-qPCR from deep oropharyngeal samples. METHODS In the prospective part of the study, 200 individuals found SARS-CoV-2 positive and 200 individuals found SARS-CoV-2 negative by routine RT-qPCR testing will be re-tested with each RAT applying RT-qPCR as the reference method. In the retrospective part of the study, 304 deep oropharyngeal cavity swabs divided into four groups based on RT-qPCR Cq levels will be tested by each RAT. RESULTS The results will be reported in several manuscripts with different aims. The first manuscript will report retrospective (analytical sensitivity, overall and stratified into different Cq range groups) and prospective (clinical sensitivity) data for RATs with RT-qPCR results as the reference method. The second manuscript will report results for RAT based on anatomical sampling location. The third manuscript will compare different anatomical sampling locations by RT-qPCR testing. The fourth manuscript will focus on RATs that rely on central laboratory testing. Test from four different manufactures will be compared for analytical performance data on retrospective deep oropharyngeal swab samples. The fifth manuscript will report the results of four RATs applied both as professional use and as self-test. The last manuscript will report the results from two breath tests participating in the study. Comparison of sensitivity and specificity between RATs will be done using McNemar for paired samples and chi-squared test for unpaired samples. Comparison of PPV and NPV between RATs will be done by bootstrap test. 95 % confidence intervals for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value are calculated as bootstrap confidence intervals CONCLUSIONS The study will compare the sensitivities of a large number of RATs for SARS-CoV-2 compared to RT-qPCR and will address whether lateral flow based RATs test differ significantly from laboratory based RATS. The anatomical test location for both RAT and RT-qPCR will be compared. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04913116

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