scholarly journals Health in Context: COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Syed Muhammad Imran Majeed ◽  
Rehma Ahsan Gilani
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Antigenic Drift ◽  
Virus Rna ◽  
The World ◽  
Therapeutic Development ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Medicine Today

As the corona virus infection rates soar around the world, it remains to be seen whether the resurgent second wave will have the same fatality rate. The 1918-20 Spanish flu came in three waves, during which it killed at least 30 million people across the globe, with some historians quoting the figure at 100 million, making it more deadly than the total number of military and civilian deaths that resulted from World War I.1,2 The increase in lethality was assumed to be due to natural selection or random antigenic drift, accumulated by the virus in its initial first wave, that allowed the virus to evade existing immunity from previous infections.3 Korber et al. in their study has shown an amino acid change in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV- 2) spike protein, D614G. This variant of SARS-CoV-2, containing G614, is now dominant in many places around the world.4,5 Based on the evidence collected from thousand COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, the authors have generated a hypothesis that reason for rapid spread of G614 is that it is more infectious than D614.4,5 Patients infected with viruses containing G614 had higher levels of virus RNA.5 In vitro experiments yielded high titers for G614 in pseudo viruses.6,7,8 However, implications of this preliminary data on the transmission patterns, disease presentation, vaccine and therapeutic development remain to be seen. Another aspect of this pandemic is the global focus upon breaking the chain of transmission since the cause of this crisis is viewed primarily as an infectious disease. But the story of COVID-19 is not so simple. Two categories of disease are interacting, infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).9 The clustering of these diseases within existing health inequalities among socially disadvantaged and low-income groups has amplified the adverse effects of each separate disease. Thus, COVID -19 is not just an epidemic10 but syndemic, a term coined by Merrill Singer, an American medical anthropologist. It is a synergistic epidemic characterized by aggregation of two or more concurrent disease clusters that adversely interact and affect each disease trajectory, resulting in an exacerbation of the prognosis and burden of disease.11 It appears that SARS CoV-2 patients in older age group, with chronic comorbidities like diabetes mellitus and hypertension and belonging to less advantage social strata racial and ethnic minorities, tend to suffer with more severe multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Therefore, successful containment of SARS-CoV-2 requires an urgent attention to NCDs and socioeconomic inequities. On a positive note, this pandemic has initiated a great human pause. The introspection, experienced during the lockdown, has made us review the very basics of the way we perceive and practice healthcare. It has made us wiser to execute our social contract by practicing a more socially conscious medicine. Today, in a post-COVID world,humanitystandsatcrossroads. InwordsofRobertFrost:“Tworoadsdivergedinawood,andItookthe ones less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.”12 Editor-in-Chief

scholarly journals Data Visualization and Analyzation of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
pp. 42-52
Author(s):  
Fahima Khanam ◽  
Itisha Nowrin ◽  
M. Rubaiyat Hossain Mondal
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Data Visualization ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
Relative Number ◽  
Swine Flu ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Death Cases

Since December 2019 the world is experiencing a deadly disease caused by a novel coronavirus termed as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease associated with this virus is known as COVID-19. This paper focuses on COVID-19 based on freely available datasets including the ones in Kaggle repository. Data analytics is provided on a number of aspects of COVID-19 including the symptoms of this disease, the difference of COVID-19 with other diseases caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and swine flu. The impact of temperature on the spread of COVID-19 is also discussed based on the datasets. Moreover, data visualization is provided on the comparison of infections in males/females which shows that males are more prone to this disease and the older people are more at risk. Based on the data, the pattern in the increase of confirmed cases is found to be an exponential curve in nature. Finally, the relative number of confirmed, recovered and death cases in different countries are shown with data visualization.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 invades host cells via a novel route: CD147-spike protein

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Wang ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Yu-Sen Zhou ◽  
Jian-Qi Lian ◽  
Zheng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Research Finding ◽  
Antiviral Drugs ◽  
Host Cells ◽  
Spike Protein ◽  
Affinity Constant ◽  
Humanized Antibody ◽  
The World

SUMMARYCurrently, COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been widely spread around the world; nevertheless, so far there exist no specific antiviral drugs for treatment of the disease, which poses great challenge to control and contain the virus. Here, we reported a research finding that SARS-CoV-2 invaded host cells via a novel route of CD147-spike protein (SP). SP bound to CD147, a receptor on the host cells, thereby mediating the viral invasion. Our further research confirmed this finding. First, in vitro antiviral tests indicated Meplazumab, an anti-CD147 humanized antibody, significantly inhibited the viruses from invading host cells, with an EC50 of 24.86 μg/mL and IC50 of 15.16 μg/mL. Second, we validated the interaction between CD147 and SP, with an affinity constant of 1.85×10−7M. Co-Immunoprecipitation and ELISA also confirmed the binding of the two proteins. Finally, the localization of CD147 and SP was observed in SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells by immuno-electron microscope. Therefore, the discovery of the new route CD147-SP for SARS-CoV-2 invading host cells provides a critical target for development of specific antiviral drugs.

scholarly journals A DISSYMMETRY IN THE FIGURES RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE WORLD: WHAT FACTORS EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheikh Faye ◽  
CheikhTidiane Wade ◽  
Ibrahima Demba Dione
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Modern World ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Average Annual Temperature ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference

Humanity has experienced outbreaks for millennia, from epidemics limited to pandemics that have claimed many victims and changed the course of civilizations. The advent of vaccines has eradicated some of the serious pathogens and reduced many others. However, pandemics are still part of our modern world, as we continue to have pandemics as devastating as HIV and as alarming as severe acute respiratory syndrome, Ebola and the Middle East respiratory syndrome. The Covid-19 epidemic with 0-exponential contamination curves reaching 3 million confirmed cases should not have come as a surprise, nor should it have been the last pandemic in the world. In this article, we try to summarize the lost opportunities as well as the lessons learned, hoping that we can do better in the future. The objective of this study is to relate the situation of Covid-19 in African countries with those of the countries most affected by the pandemic. It also allows us to verify how, according to the observed situation, the African ecosystem seems to be much more resilient compared to that of other continents where the number of deaths is in the thousands. To verify this, the diagnosed morbidity and mortality reported for different states of the world are compared to the ages of life and the average annual temperature of these states. The results show that the less dramatic balance of the African continent compared to other continents is partly linked to the relatively high temperatures on the continent but also to the relatively young character of its population.

scholarly journals Cinanserin Is an Inhibitor of the 3C-Like Proteinase of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Strongly Reduces Virus Replication In Vitro

2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (11) ◽  
pp. 7095-7103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Chen ◽  
Chunshan Gui ◽  
Xiaomin Luo ◽  
Qingang Yang ◽  
Stephan Günther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Homology Model ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Crystallographic Structure ◽  
Drug Concentrations ◽  
Virus Rna ◽  
Docking Approach ◽  
The 1960S

ABSTRACT The 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is one of the most promising targets for anti-SARS-CoV drugs due to its crucial role in the viral life cycle. In this study, a database containing structural information of more than 8,000 existing drugs was virtually screened by a docking approach to identify potential binding molecules of SARS-CoV 3CLpro. As a target for screening, both a homology model and the crystallographic structure of the binding pocket of the enzyme were used. Cinanserin (SQ 10,643), a well-characterized serotonin antagonist that has undergone preliminary clinical testing in humans in the 1960s, showed a high score in the screening and was chosen for further experimental evaluation. Binding of both cinanserin and its hydrochloride to bacterially expressed 3CLpro of SARS-CoV and the related human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) was demonstrated by surface plasmon resonance technology. The catalytic activity of both enzymes was inhibited with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 5 μM, as tested with a fluorogenic substrate. The antiviral activity of cinanserin was further evaluated in tissue culture assays, namely, a replicon system based on HCoV-229E and quantitative test assays with infectious SARS-CoV and HCoV-229E. All assays revealed a strong inhibition of coronavirus replication at nontoxic drug concentrations. The level of virus RNA and infectious particles was reduced by up to 4 log units, with IC50 values ranging from 19 to 34 μM. These findings demonstrate that the old drug cinanserin is an inhibitor of SARS-CoV replication, acting most likely via inhibition of the 3CL proteinase.

scholarly journals Global trends in the development of labour markets and employment in the focus of innovation change

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 07002
Author(s):  
Stanislava Pasieka ◽  
Anna Pasieka ◽  
Mariana Bil ◽  
Oleksandra Humeniuk
Keyword(s):  
Human Development ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Employment Rate ◽  
Employment Policy ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
The World ◽  
Competitive Relations ◽  
The Difference

The article focuses on the main trends of innovation change effects on the labour markets and employment, value and mental characteristics, relation formation, regulation mechanisms, competitive relations, the distribution of rights and movement freedom, leading the formation of a new era of “the planet man” development. The world trends in the development of the labour markets and employment are analyzed. The ratification dynamics of international regulatory legal documents in the field of the world employment in 2006-2017 is investigated. Over 8,000 ratifications are found to be carried out by different states in 2017. This indicator increased constantly, gaining the highest rate acceleration in 2011-2012. Based on the United Nations Human Development Report, the polarization of the world's countries in terms of employment and unemployment (including among young people) is studied, with shares of employees less than $ 3.10 of PPP per day. The lack of a direct correlation between the Human Development Index and the employment rate is established: the highest employment rate is found for a group of countries with a low index; it means that the improvement of the state employment policy should be oriented towards qualitative indicators. The structure of the employed by status is analyzed. On average, 54.8% of the world employed population is found to work on the basis of employment, and the higher the level of state development, the higher the proportion of such individuals. The analysis of GDP indicator per capita employed shows the high polarization of the modern world: the difference between countries with high- and low-income levels is about 25 times; this indicator for Ukraine is 47% of the world average and 18% of high-income countries. As a generalization of the analysis, the main problems of the development of the global labour market are considered and ways of their solution are proposed.

scholarly journals A Survey of Inhibitors for the Main Protease of Coronaviruses with the Potential for Development of Broad-Spectrum Therapeutics

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Alyssa Sanders ◽  
Samuel Ricci ◽  
Sarah Uribe ◽  
Bridget Boyle ◽  
Brian Nepper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Viral Replication ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Active Site ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Neuraminidase Inhibitor ◽  
Main Protease ◽  
The World ◽  
Potential Inhibitors

The coronaviruses plaguing humanity in the 21st century share much in common: a spontaneous route of origin from wild animals, a propensity to take human life, and, importantly, a highly conserved set of biological machinery necessary for viral replication. Most recently, the SARS-CoV-2 is decimating economies around the world and has claimed over two million human lives, reminding the world of a need for an effective drug against present and future coronaviruses. To date, attempts to repurpose clinically approved antiviral medications show minimal promise, highlighting the need for development of new antiviral drugs. Nucleotide analog inhibitors are a promising therapeutic candidate, but early data from clinical studies suggests these compounds have limited efficacy. However, novel compounds targeting the main protease responsible for critical steps in viral assembly are gaining considerable interest because they offer the potential for broad-spectrum coronavirus therapy. Here, we review the literature regarding potential inhibitors for the main protease of coronaviruses, especially SARS-CoV-2, analyze receptor-drug interactions, and draw conclusions about candidate inhibitors for future outbreaks. Promising candidates for development of a broad-spectrum coronavirus protease inhibitor include the neuraminidase inhibitor 3K, the peptidomimetic inhibitor 11a and 11b, the α-ketoamide inhibitor 13b, the aldehyde prodrug, and the phosphate prodrug developed by Pfizer. In silico and in vitro analyses have shown that these inhibitors strongly interact with the active site of the main protease, and to varying degrees, prevent viral replication via interactions with the largely conserved active site pockets. KEYWORDS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2; Replicase Polypeptide; Protease; Neuraminidase Inhibitor; Peptidomimetic Inhibitor; α-Ketoamide Inhibitor; Molecular Docking

scholarly journals Iota-carrageenan and Xylitol inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shruti Bansal ◽  
Colleen B. Jonsson ◽  
Shannon L. Taylor ◽  
Juan Manuel Figueroa ◽  
Andrea Vanesa Dugour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Culture ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Nasal Spray ◽  
Cell Cultures ◽  
Dosage Form ◽  
Unmet Need ◽  
Antiviral Action ◽  
Nasal Sprays ◽  
The World

AbstractCOVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2) infection affecting millions of persons around the world. There is an urgent unmet need to provide an easy-to-produce, affordable medicine to prevent transmission and provide early treatment for this disease. The nasal cavity and the rhinopharynx are the sites of initial replication of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, a nasal spray may be a suitable dosage form for this purpose. The main objective of our study was to test the antiviral action of three candidate nasal spray formulations against SARS-CoV-2. We have found that iota-carrageenan in concentrations as low as 6 µg/ mL inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero cell cultures. The concentrations found to be active in vitro against SARS-CoV-2 may be easily achieved by the application of nasal sprays already marketed in several countries. Xylitol at a concentration of 5 % m/V has proved to be viricidal on its own and the association with iota-carrageenan may be beneficial, as well.

Adjustment: 1920–1954

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Albjerg Graham
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War I ◽  
Low Income ◽  
School Environment ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Low Income Children ◽  
Teapot Dome ◽  
The World ◽  
Soviet Russia

World War I, according to President Woodrow Wilson and other sloganeers, made “the world safe for democracy.” Americans were largely spared the cataclysmic effects of the Great War endured by Europeans. Nonetheless, the national mood in the United States changed dramatically, and, as is so often the case, this shift in sentiments could be clearly discerned in new priorities for the school system, initially for children of welleducated and wealthy parents. Pundits proclaimed that assimilation had been achieved, although the practices associated with it faded only gradually over the next two decades and particularly persisted in schools serving immigrant and other low-income children. America in the 1920s experienced a period of growing wealth, considerable corporate and governmentally ignored greed, widespread racial and religious bigotry, and rapidly changing social mores, particularly for urbanites. In such a period, discussions about the national need for assimilation as a means of preserving the democracy seemed out of place. With so much change in the air, “adjustment” to the new times emerged as the new catchword. Many of the most salient events and practices of the post–World War I period (the Teapot Dome financial scandal, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings of blacks in the South, and the economic depression following the stock market crash of 1929) did not reflect well on the democracy Americans aspired to have. President Wilson might claim that the world was “safe for democracy,” but his piece of the world, the United States, did not admirably demonstrate it at the time. Nor, of course, did the new Soviet Russia, recently emerged both from incredible losses in World War I and from the yoke of the czars and now engaging in a different form of authoritarian rule. Germany, principal adversary of the Allies in World War I, entered the 1920s badly broken. The Germans attempted a new and ultimately unstable form of government before acquiescing to Hitler’s takeover in 1933, resulting in a devastating defeat of democracy. As the Roaring Twenties took off, American educators, always anxious to be au courant with what was expected of them, found their old priorities obsolete. Prescient school men recognized that the focus was shifting from schools serving a need defined by the nation (assimilation) to one defined by informed, ambitious, and often affluent parents seeking a more supportive school environment for their children and by newly articulate professors of education.

scholarly journals Coronavirus infection COVID-19. Scientific challenges and possible ways to treat and prevent the disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
A. G. Rumyantsev
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
World Health ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
The World ◽  
Coronavirus Infection

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed pain points of decentralized healthcare systems in the global world and a failure in scientific systems analysis of old and new infections. Eighteen years ago severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was underestimated and etiopathogenetic research conducted around the world was not used to develop effective treatments and prevention of the disease. Moreover, the anti-epidemic tactics in the recommendations of the World Health Organization and national health systems in the fight against the pandemic were inconsistent and relied on the historical experience of the influenza pandemic and other epidemics of respiratory infections with an emphasis on the study of the biology of the pathogen and the adaptation of society to establish biological and social balance with it.The study of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2) from the point of view of its origin, genome, mutated strains, damaging factors in cell culture in vitro and autopsies in experimental animals and humans in foci of infection in no way answers the question of the reasons for the various responses of the host, including asymptomatic carriage with/without the formation of an immune response; definition of syndromic complexes and their periodization; options for the uncomplicated and complicated course of the disease; outcomes, including recovery with/without the formation of specific immunity and thanatogenesis, with the search for evidence of direct or indirect involvement of SARS-CoV-2 virus in adverse outcomes.The underestimation of the host's responses to the effects of beta-coronavirus has led to syndromic polypharmacy using more than 30 drugs with anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, anticoagulant, immunosuppressive, and other effects, including passive immunotherapy with plasma of recovered patients or therapeutic exchange plasmapheresis. Seven months of the fight against COVID-19 led, as one would expect, to the proven effect of only tough anti-epidemic measures, personal protective measures and hygiene in the absence of effective treatment and prevention measures. In fact, an empirical selection of national and international treatment protocols with a combination of non-specific syndromic drugs is underway in the world.The critical review discusses scientific data and hypotheses of the origin of a new coronavirus infection, human ontogenetic response to infection with SARS-CoV-2, and emerging bioinformatic concepts of the pathogenesis of the disease and approaches to pathogenetic treatment.

scholarly journals Free fatty acid binding pocket in the locked structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 370 (6517) ◽  
pp. 725-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Toelzer ◽  
Kapil Gupta ◽  
Sathish K. N. Yadav ◽  
Ufuk Borucu ◽  
Andrew D. Davidson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Free Fatty Acid ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Fatty Acid Binding ◽  
Binding Domains ◽  
Therapeutic Development ◽  
Binding Pockets ◽  
Severe Pathology

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), represents a global crisis. Key to SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic development is unraveling the mechanisms that drive high infectivity, broad tissue tropism, and severe pathology. Our 2.85-angstrom cryo–electron microscopy structure of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein reveals that the receptor binding domains tightly bind the essential free fatty acid linoleic acid (LA) in three composite binding pockets. A similar pocket also appears to be present in the highly pathogenic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). LA binding stabilizes a locked S conformation, resulting in reduced angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) interaction in vitro. In human cells, LA supplementation synergizes with the COVID-19 drug remdesivir, suppressing SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our structure directly links LA and S, setting the stage for intervention strategies that target LA binding by SARS-CoV-2.

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