Article
Cell Biology
Elena Campello, Claudia Maria Radu, Chiara Simion, Luca Spiezia, Cristiana Bulato, Sabrina Gavasso, Daniela Tormene, Nicola Perin, Giacomo Turatti, Paolo Simioni
Summary: The study found that extracellular vesicles (EVs) from cells involved in COVID-19-associated coagulopathy increased in COVID-19 patients at admission and discharge, with a decrease in endothelium-derived EVs 30 days post-discharge, while platelet- and leukocyte-derived EVs further increased.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Justine Defeche, Samira Azarzar, Alyssia Mesdagh, Patricia Dellot, Amandine Tytgat, Fabrice Bureau, Laurent Gillet, Yasmine Belhadj, Sebastien Bontems, Marie-Pierre Hayette, Raphael Schils, Souad Rahmouni, Marie Ernst, Michel Moutschen, Gilles Darcis
Summary: Testing and isolation of COVID-19 patients are crucial in controlling the pandemic, with PCR tests being the gold standard for diagnosis. The study compared the sensitivity of different sample specimens and found that nasopharyngeal swabs were most sensitive, while throat washing showed better performance at later time points.
Article
Immunology
Peter F. Wright, Alejandra C. Prevost-Reilly, Harini Natarajan, Elizabeth B. Brickley, Ruth Connor, Wendy F. Wieland-Alter, Anna S. Miele, Joshua A. Weiner, Robert D. Nerenz, Margaret E. Ackerman
Summary: Respiratory/mucosal and serum/systemic antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection are distinct host defense mechanisms influenced by age, severity of illness, and immunoglobulin class. Stimulation of respiratory immunity is crucial for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines aiming to limit transmission.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Juan Manuel Carreno, Damodara Rao Mendu, Viviana Simon, Masood A. Shariff, Gagandeep Singh, Vidya Menon, Florian Krammer
Summary: This study analyzed the antibody responses of healthcare workers using different serological tests, finding a good correlation between RBD and spike-based assays. Antibody levels in HCWs declined over time, while the seroprevalence of NP-reactive antibodies significantly decreased.
Article
Biology
Fares Z. Najar, Evan Linde, Chelsea L. Murphy, Veniamin A. Borin, Huan Wang, Shozeb Haider, Pratul K. Agarwal
Summary: COVID-19 pandemic caused by rapidly mutating and highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus has underscored the importance of preparedness strategies in responding to current and future outbreaks. Real-time genomic surveillance, particularly through mutation analysis of viral proteins, provides a method for predicting surges in infection cases in advance. This approach, applicable to other pathogens as well, offers valuable insights for effective containment measures.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lipika R. Pal, Kuoyuan Cheng, Nishanth Ulhas Nair, Laura Martin-Sancho, Sanju Sinha, Yuan Pu, Laura Riva, Xin Yin, Fiorella Schischlik, Joo Sang Lee, Sumit K. Chanda, Eytan Ruppin
Summary: This article proposes a novel strategy to identify drug targets and treatments for the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing the altered gene expression of virus-infected host cells. The study finds that these targets can effectively inhibit viral replication without harming healthy cells.
Article
Microbiology
Maddalena Peghin, Maria De Martino, Martina Fabris, Alvisa Palese, Erica Visintini, Elena Graziano, Valentina Gerussi, Giulia Bontempo, Federica D'Aurizio, Alessia Biasotto, Assunta Sartor, Corrado Pipan, Stefania Marzinotto, Francesco Curcio, Emilio Bouza, Miriam Isola, Carlo Tascini
Summary: This study found that age, number of symptoms at acute onset, and severity of acute COVID-19 were independent predictors of long-term immunity in COVID-19 patients. IgM antibodies disappeared at 4 months, and about half of patients showed a decline in IgG antibodies after 10 months.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Angela Maria Ruiz-Sternberg, Henry Mauricio Chaparro-Solano, Ludwig L. Albornoz, Angela Maria Pinzon-Rondon, Juan Mauricio Pardo-Oviedo, Nicolas Molano-Gonzalez, Diego Andres Otero-Rodriguez, Fabio Andres Zapata-Gomez, Jubby Marcela Galvez
Summary: This study explored the relationship between the molecular characterization of SARS-CoV-2 and disease severity in Colombia. The results indicate that infection with the B.1.621 variant is associated with increased hospitalization and mortality rates.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Gisela Masachessi, Gonzalo Castro, Ariana Mariela Cachi, Maria de los Angeles Marinzalda, Matias Liendo, Maria Belen Pisano, Paola Sicilia, Gustavo Ibarra, Ricardo Manuel Rojas, Laura Lopez, Gabriela Barbas, Diego Cardozo, Viviana Elisabeth Re, Silvia Viviana Nates
Summary: Monitoring wastewater for the traces of viruses provides valuable information on the circulation of specific pathogens in a community, supporting public health measures.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xiawan Zheng, Shuxian Li, Yu Deng, Xiaoqing Xu, Jiahui Ding, Frankie T. K. Lau, Chung In Yau, Leo L. M. Poon, Hein M. Tun, Tong Zhang
Summary: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a cost-effective and unbiased tool for population-level testing. In this study, a 6-month wastewater monitoring campaign was conducted in different wastewater treatment plants in Hong Kong, showing significant correlations between virus concentration and daily new cases in corresponding catchment areas.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Justin Y. Lu, Harnadar Anand, Shalom Z. Frager, Wei Hou, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: This study identified key clinical variables predictive of liver injury in COVID-19, which may prove useful for management of liver injury. Late onset of severe liver injury and more aggressive care are suggestive of treatment-related hepatotoxicity.
HEPATOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michelle J. Lin, Victoria M. Rachleff, Hong Xie, Lasata Shrestha, Nicole A. P. Lieberman, Vikas Peddu, Amin Addetia, Amanda M. Casto, Nathan Breit, Patrick C. Mathias, Meei-Li Huang, Keith R. Jerome, Alexander L. Greninger, Pavitra Roychoudhury
Summary: This study sequenced 49 longitudinal SARS-CoV-2-positive samples from 20 patients in Washington State collected between March and September 2020. The results showed a decline in viral loads over time, negligible change in consensus sequences, and the presence of low-frequency nonsynonymous variants across the genome. In one patient, rapid emergence of deletion variants in the spike glycoprotein was observed. Differential gene expression analysis also revealed downregulation of cytoskeletal genes and co-occurrence of bacterial species in multiple hospitalized individuals.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Hao-Long Zeng, Qing-Bin Lu, Qing Yang, Xu Wang, Dao-Yuan Yue, Lei-Ke Zhang, Hao Li, Wei Liu, Hui-Jun Li
Summary: The study conducted a retrospective cohort study on 642 patients with COVID-19 in a designated hospital in Wuhan, China, determining 3 clinical stages and analyzing laboratory parameters and cytokines at each stage. The findings indicate that factors such as age, lactate dehydrogenase, procalcitonin, lymphocyte count, and interleukin 6 play crucial roles in predicting fatal outcomes for COVID-19 patients.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Aharona Glatman-Freedman, Sarah F. Feldman, Yael Hershkovitz, Zalman Kaufman, Rita Dichtiar, Lital Keinan-Boker, Michal Bromberg
Summary: The study evaluates the indirect protective effect of COVID-19 vaccination in Israel and finds that the vaccination campaign played a major role in reducing the infection among unvaccinated individuals, leading to the end of the first wave of the Alpha variant. The infection ultimately stopped when two-thirds of the population were naturally or actively vaccinated. Any changes in the virus or the population can result in new outbreaks.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Denggao Peng, Hua Huang, Zhichao Liu, Yanzhang Gao, Yingxia Liu
Summary: There is a link between vitamin D levels and clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant BA.2 infection in children, with cases of vitamin D insufficiency potentially experiencing poorer clinical outcomes during infection.
FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Thomas Ren, Stephanie Lin, Pauline Huang, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: This study investigated the use of machine learning convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on multiparametric MRI to detect nodal metastasis in breast cancer patients. The results showed that the model using combined T1- and T2-W MRI performed the best compared to other models and radiologists.
CLINICAL BREAST CANCER
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Justin Y. Lu, Wei Hou, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: The study investigated the temporal characteristics of clinical variables in COVID-19 patients with hospital-acquired AKI and longitudinally predicted AKI onset. The results showed that AKI developed on average 3.3 days after hospitalization, with certain clinical variables such as creatinine, procalcitonin, and white blood cells being able to predict AKI onset. This insight may lead to earlier recognition of AKI and improved clinical outcomes.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Sadia Anjum, Lal Hussain, Mushtaq Ali, Monagi H. Alkinani, Wajid Aziz, Sabrina Gheller, Adeel Ahmed Abbasi, Ali Raza Marchal, Harshini Suresh, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: Accurate classification of brain tumor subtypes is crucial for prognosis and treatment. This study shows that deep learning methods with transfer learning outperform traditional machine learning methods, indicating potential for better clinical outcomes.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMAGING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Varsha R. Talanki, Qi Peng, Stephanie B. Shamir, Steven H. Baete, Timothy Q. Duong, Nicole Wake
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the use of MRI in creating 3D printed anatomical models for surgical planning and to provide image acquisition recommendations for appropriate clinical scenarios. While MRI offers advantages such as exquisite soft tissue contrast, it requires complex imaging techniques and time-consuming postprocessing procedures compared to CT datasets for generating high-resolution 3D anatomical models for 3D printing.
JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Benjamin Musheyev, Montek S. Boparai, Reona Kimura, Rebeca Janowicz, Stacey Pamlanye, Wei Hou, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: The medical specialty usage of COVID-19 survivors after hospital discharge was investigated in this study. The findings showed that a high incidence of persistent symptoms and medical specialty care needs were present in hospitalized COVID-19 survivors 1-24 months post-discharge. Some specialty care needs were COVID-19 related while others were associated with pre-existing medical conditions.
INTERNAL AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aaquib Q. Syed, Richard Adam, Thomas Ren, Jinyu Lu, Takouhie Maldjian, Tim Duong
Summary: Using extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) with MRI and non-imaging data, it is possible to predict pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. By analyzing texture features of DWI and DCE images, along with patient demographics and tumor data, pCR can be accurately predicted. The combination of MRI and non-MRI data from multiple treatment timepoints as inputs achieves the highest prediction accuracy.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hongyi Dammu, Thomas Ren, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: The goal of this study was to use a novel deep-learning convolutional-neural-network (CNN) to predict pathological complete response (PCR), residual cancer burden (RCB), and progression-free survival (PFS) in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy using longitudinal multiparametric MRI, demographics, and molecular subtypes as inputs. The results showed that the Integrated approach of CNN outperformed the Stack or Concatenation CNN, and the combination of MRI and non-MRI data performed better than either alone. The best model achieved an accuracy of 0.81 for PCR prediction, 0.80 for RCB prediction, and a mean absolute error of 24.6 months for PFS prediction.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Anna Eligulashvili, Megan Darrell, Carolyn Miller, Jeylin Lee, Seth Congdon, Jimmy S. Lee, Kevin Hsu, Judy Yee, Wei Hou, Marjan Islam, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: This study reports the symptoms and assessments of COVID-19 survivors up to five months post-acute infection. The results showed that many survivors experienced issues in pulmonary function, physical, emotional, and cognitive health. Furthermore, lung imaging abnormalities were more common than brain imaging abnormalities.
Review
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Tharun T. Alamuri, Sandhya Mahesh, Kevin Dell'Aquila, Taylor Jan Leong, Rebecca Jennings, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: SARS-CoV-2 infection may lead to endocrine dysfunction and dysregulation of blood sugar levels, causing diabetes mellitus. The relationship between COVID-19 and endocrine dysfunctions is still not completely understood. This review analyzed 27 publications on COVID-19 associated ketosis or diabetic ketoacidosis, suggesting that DKA in the setting of COVID-19 could increase the risk of death, especially in patients with new-onset diabetes. Larger studies with more specific variables are needed for better conclusions.
DIABETES OBESITY & METABOLISM
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Justin Y. Lu, Jack Wilson, Wei Hou, Roman Fleysher, Betsy C. Herold, Kevan C. Herold, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: This study compared the incidences and risk factors of new-onset persistent type-2 diabetes in COVID-19 patients to those in influenza patients. It was found that the incidence of type-2 diabetes was higher in COVID-19 patients compared to influenza patients. The risk of developing persistent type-2 diabetes was also higher in hospitalized COVID-19 patients compared to non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients and hospitalized influenza patients.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Alexander Y. Y. Xu, Stephen H. H. Wang, Tim Q. Q. Duong
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the incidence of new-onset diabetes in patients with prediabetes after COVID-19 and compared it with those not infected. The study found that hospitalized patients with prediabetes and COVID-19 had a higher incidence of in-hospital and post-infection diabetes compared to those without COVID-19. Critical illness, in-hospital steroid treatment, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and HbA1c were significant predictors of in-hospital diabetes.
BMJ OPEN DIABETES RESEARCH & CARE
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Beiyi Shen, Wei Hou, Zhao Jiang, Haifang Li, Adam J. J. Singer, Mahsa Hoshmand-Kochi, Almas Abbasi, Samantha Glass, Henry C. C. Thode, Jeffrey Levsky, Michael Lipton, Tim Q. Q. Duong
Summary: This study analyzed the temporal characteristics of lung chest X-ray (CXR) scores in COVID-19 patients during hospitalization and their correlation with other clinical variables and outcomes. The results showed that CXR scores have the potential to provide prognosis, guide treatment, and monitor disease progression in COVID-19 patients.
Article
Hematology
Avery Feit, Moshe Gordon, Tharun T. Alamuri, Wei Hou, William B. Mitchell, Deepa Manwani, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: This study examined whether patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) had increased risk of worse long-term outcomes and healthcare utilization 2.5 years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The results showed that SCD patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection did not have additional risk of worse long-term outcomes compared to matched controls of SCD patients not infected by SARS-CoV-2.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Vincent Zhang, Molly Fisher, Wei Hou, Lili Zhang, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: The incidence of new-onset persistent hypertension in patients with COVID-19 is higher than those with influenza, indicating a significant health burden associated with COVID-19.
Article
Rheumatology
Jai Mehrotra-Varma, Anand Kumthekar, Sonya Henry, Roman Fleysher, Wei Hou, Tim Q. Duong
Summary: This retrospective study examined the clinical outcomes of 361 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were infected with COVID-19. The results showed that patients with RA and COVID-19 had higher rates of hospitalization, critical illness, and mortality compared to patients with RA without COVID-19. However, these adverse outcomes were not directly attributed to RA itself, but rather to age and preexisting medical conditions.
ACR OPEN RHEUMATOLOGY
(2023)