scholarly journals Sars-CoV-2 in the context of coronaviruses and animal models of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
AA Korenkova ◽  
VV Bahmetjev ◽  
KS Gorbunov
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Genetic Similarity ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Ecological Relationships ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
New Hosts ◽  
Human Coronaviruses ◽  
Favorable Conditions

Some human coronaviruses that share genetic similarity are known to infect other mammals. A host can harbor several coronaviruses, which creates favorable conditions for recombination and eventually results in the emergence of new viral strains and species. This review looks at SARS-CoV-2 in the context of other coronaviruses and their evolution, with a special focus on possible host jumps and adaptation of the virus to its new hosts. To understand these phenomena, it is essential to know the ecological relationships between the host and other organisms. Candidate COVID-19 models are not limited to the organisms and laboratory animals previously used to study SARS and MERS. The diversity of SARS-CoV-2 hosts suggests there is a wide range of candidate animal models for studying COVID-19 that might be suitable for testing drugs and vaccines against this infection. Considering the diversity of coronaviruses, integrated medical, veterinarian and zoological studies might help to speed up the development of tools for combating coronaviral infections and prevent future epidemics.

Differential Characteristics of HMGB2 Versus HMGB1 and their Perspectives in Ovary and Prostate Cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (20) ◽  
pp. 3271-3289 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Cámara-Quílez ◽  
Aida Barreiro-Alonso ◽  
Esther Rodríguez-Bemonte ◽  
María Quindós-Varela ◽  
M. Esperanza Cerdán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Therapeutic Agents ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Relative Expression ◽  
Ovarian Cancers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Adult Cells

We have summarized common and differential functions of HMGB1 and HMGB2 proteins with reference to pathological processes, with a special focus on cancer. Currently, several “omic” approaches help us compare the relative expression of these 2 proteins in healthy and cancerous human specimens, as well as in a wide range of cancer-derived cell lines, or in fetal versus adult cells. Molecules that interfere with HMGB1 functions, though through different mechanisms, have been extensively tested as therapeutic agents in animal models in recent years, and their effects are summarized. The review concludes with a discussion on the perspectives of HMGB molecules as targets in prostate and ovarian cancers.

Automated reverse engineering control system model

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
A. V. Vinnichenko ◽  
S. A. Nazarevich ◽  
I. R. Karpova
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Reverse Engineering ◽  
Flaw Detection ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Environmental Requirements ◽  
Traditional Technologies ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Control System Model ◽  
Favorable Conditions

The article deals with the task of simplifying the reverse design process by implementing three-point 3D scanning, which allows you to speed up the technological stages of reverse design to the moment of product manufacture, as well as simplify the procedure for defecating finished products and create favorable conditions for the implementation of the principles of unification. The model of the control system in this article refers to the structuring of elements of the technological organization of the process of creating 3D prototyping of existing copies created by the use of reverse engineering. For this purpose, the problems of traditional technologies that do not allow timely coping with changes in the technical system under the influence of in accordance with the requirements of regulatory documents and environmental requirements were considered. We also analyzed not only the principles of operation of traditional technologies, but also the zone of reverse engineering, which allows you to achieve an increased level of production capacity by identifying a group of key defects based on the process of flaw detection and statistical analysis.

scholarly journals Drivers of Infectious Disease Seasonality: Potential Implications for COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 074873042098732
Author(s):  
N. Kronfeld-Schor ◽  
T. J. Stevenson ◽  
S. Nickbakhsh ◽  
E. S. Schernhammer ◽  
X. C. Dopico ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Epidemiological Evidence ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Human Coronaviruses ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Timing Phase

Not 1 year has passed since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since its emergence, great uncertainty has surrounded the potential for COVID-19 to establish as a seasonally recurrent disease. Many infectious diseases, including endemic human coronaviruses, vary across the year. They show a wide range of seasonal waveforms, timing (phase), and amplitudes, which differ depending on the geographical region. Drivers of such patterns are predominantly studied from an epidemiological perspective with a focus on weather and behavior, but complementary insights emerge from physiological studies of seasonality in animals, including humans. Thus, we take a multidisciplinary approach to integrate knowledge from usually distinct fields. First, we review epidemiological evidence of environmental and behavioral drivers of infectious disease seasonality. Subsequently, we take a chronobiological perspective and discuss within-host changes that may affect susceptibility, morbidity, and mortality from infectious diseases. Based on photoperiodic, circannual, and comparative human data, we not only identify promising future avenues but also highlight the need for further studies in animal models. Our preliminary assessment is that host immune seasonality warrants evaluation alongside weather and human behavior as factors that may contribute to COVID-19 seasonality, and that the relative importance of these drivers requires further investigation. A major challenge to predicting seasonality of infectious diseases are rapid, human-induced changes in the hitherto predictable seasonality of our planet, whose influence we review in a final outlook section. We conclude that a proactive multidisciplinary approach is warranted to predict, mitigate, and prevent seasonal infectious diseases in our complex, changing human-earth system.

Occupational hazard in Malaysian traffic police: special focus on air pollutants

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Putri Anis Syahira Mohamad Jamil ◽  
Karmegam Karuppiah ◽  
Irniza Rasdi ◽  
Vivien How ◽  
Shamsul Bahri Mohd Tamrin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Injuries ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Traffic Police ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
And Control ◽  
Risk Occupation ◽  
High Risk Occupation

Abstract This paper provides a specific deliberation on occupational hazards confronted daily by Malaysian Traffic Police. Traffic police is a high-risk occupation that involves a wide range of tasks and, indirectly, faced with an equally wide variety of hazards at work namely, physical, biological, psychosocial, chemical, and ergonomic hazards. Thereupon, occupational injuries, diseases, and even death are common in the field. The objective of this paper is to collate and explain the major hazards of working as Malaysian traffic police especially in Point Duty Unit, their health effects, and control measures. There are many ways in which these hazards can be minimised by ensuring that sufficient safety measures are taken such as a wireless outdoor individual exposure indicator system for the traffic police. By having this system, air monitoring among traffic police may potentially be easier and accurate. Other methods of mitigating these unfortunate events are incorporated and addressed in this paper according to the duty and needs of traffic police.

scholarly journals Methods Used and Application of the Mouse Grimace Scale in Biomedical Research 10 Years On: A Scoping Review

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 673
Author(s):  
Alexandra L. Whittaker ◽  
Yifan Liu ◽  
Timothy H. Barker
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Mouse Models ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Wide Range

The Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS) was developed 10 years ago as a method for assessing pain through the characterisation of changes in five facial features or action units. The strength of the technique is that it is proposed to be a measure of spontaneous or non-evoked pain. The time is opportune to map all of the research into the MGS, with a particular focus on the methods used and the technique’s utility across a range of mouse models. A comprehensive scoping review of the academic literature was performed. A total of 48 articles met our inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The MGS has been employed mainly in the evaluation of acute pain, particularly in the pain and neuroscience research fields. There has, however, been use of the technique in a wide range of fields, and based on limited study it does appear to have utility for pain assessment across a spectrum of animal models. Use of the method allows the detection of pain of a longer duration, up to a month post initial insult. There has been less use of the technique using real-time methods and this is an area in need of further research.

scholarly journals Temporal concatenation for Markov decision processes

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Ruiyang Song ◽  
Kuang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Markov Decision Processes ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Upper Bounds ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Optimal Solutions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Markov Decision ◽  
Speed Up

We propose and analyze a temporal concatenation heuristic for solving large-scale finite-horizon Markov decision processes (MDP), which divides the MDP into smaller sub-problems along the time horizon and generates an overall solution by simply concatenating the optimal solutions from these sub-problems. As a “black box” architecture, temporal concatenation works with a wide range of existing MDP algorithms. Our main results characterize the regret of temporal concatenation compared to the optimal solution. We provide upper bounds for general MDP instances, as well as a family of MDP instances in which the upper bounds are shown to be tight. Together, our results demonstrate temporal concatenation's potential of substantial speed-up at the expense of some performance degradation.

scholarly journals Sources of variation in the feeding ecology of the piked spurdog (Squalus megalops): implications for inferring predator–prey interactions from overall dietary composition

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1076-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Matías Braccini ◽  
Bronwyn M. Gillanders ◽  
Terence I. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Dietary Composition ◽  
Bootstrap Analysis ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Ecological Relationships ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Opportunistic Predator ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Prey Items

Abstract Sources of variation in dietary composition were examined in the piked spurdog (Squalus megalops). The species is an opportunistic predator that consumes a wide range of prey items. When importance of prey was measured by weight or occurrence, S. megalops preyed largely on molluscs and teleosts. However, when number of prey was considered, the main items were crustaceans. A bootstrap analysis showed that considerable variability can be expected in the importance of prey items in the species' overall diet. Regional, seasonal, and ontogenetic differences in dietary composition were found, but there were no differences between mature and immature sharks or between males and females. The spatial and temporal variation in diet exhibited by S. megalops and the intrinsic natural variability of the dietary composition of this opportunistic predator suggest that studies that infer predator–prey interactions from overall diet are likely to miss information on the ecological relationships among species and thus account for only part of these interactions.

scholarly journals Diet and general cognitive ability in the UK Biobank dataset

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Piril Hepsomali ◽  
John A. Groeger
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Dietary Patterns ◽  
Red Meat ◽  
Milk Intake ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Uk

AbstractAccumulating evidence suggests that dietary interventions might have potential to be used as a strategy to protect against age-related cognitive decline and neurodegeneration, as there are associations between some nutrients, food groups, dietary patterns, and some domains of cognition. In this study, we aimed to conduct the largest investigation of diet and cognition to date, through systematically examining the UK Biobank (UKB) data to find out whether dietary quality and food groups play a role on general cognitive ability. This cross-sectional population-based study involved 48,749 participants. UKB data on food frequency questionnaire and cognitive function were used. Also, healthy diet, partial fibre intake, and milk intake scores were calculated. Adjusted models included age, sex, and BMI. We observed associations between better general cognitive ability and higher intakes of fish, and unprocessed red meat; and moderate intakes of fibre, and milk. Surprisingly, we found that diet quality, vegetable intake, high and low fibre and milk intake were inversely associated with general cognitive ability. Our results suggest that fish and unprocessed red meat and/or nutrients that are found in fish and unprocessed red meat might be beneficial for general cognitive ability. However, results should be interpreted in caution as the same food groups may affect other domains of cognition or mental health differently. These discrepancies in the current state of evidence invites further research to examine domain-specific effects of dietary patterns/food groups on a wide range of cognitive and affective outcomes with a special focus on potential covariates that may have an impact on diet and cognition relationship.

Animal Experiments and their Alternatives in Psychiatry

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-318
Author(s):  
Anthony Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Human Study ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Experimental Production ◽  
Potential Utility ◽  
Pharmacological Agents ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Influential Paper ◽  
Adequate Data ◽  
Human Primate

During the last twenty years, the most enthusiastic advocates of the use of animal models in the study of human psychiatric dysfunction have been Harlow and Suomi. In an influential paper, Induced Depression in Monkeys (1974), they argued that more extensive use of non-human primates “would have great potential utility since many manipulations and measurements presently prohibited in human study by ethical and practical considerations could be readily performed on non-human primate subjects in well-controlled experimental environments.” Harlow & Suomi concluded this paper with the following statement: “The results obtained to date on induced depression in monkeys show that proper and profound depressions can be produced relatively easily by a variety of techniques. These induced depressions either bear a close resemblance to human depression or have such similarity as to suggest that closely correlated human and animal depressive patterns may be achieved with refined techniques. The results to date also provide adequate data for the conduct of meaningful researches on the effects of pharmacological agents which either enhance, inhibit or preclude the experimental production of depression. Further, the existence of firm and fast monkey depression syndromes offers vast opportunities for testing a wide range of therapeutic techniques, either behavioural or biochemical.”

scholarly journals Prebiotics, immune function, infection and inflammation: a review of the evidence

2008 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 633-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy R. Lomax ◽  
Philip C. Calder
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Immune Function ◽  
Intestinal Inflammation ◽  
Adaptive Immune System ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Inflammatory Conditions ◽  
Intestinal Infections ◽  
Inflammatory Processes ◽  
Irritable Bowel

β2-1 Fructans are carbohydrate molecules with prebiotic properties. Through resistance to digestion in the upper gastrointestinal tract, they reach the colon intact, where they selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of beneficial members of the gut microbiota. Through this modification of the intestinal microbiota, and by additional mechanisms, β2-1 fructans may have beneficial effects upon immune function, ability to combat infection, and inflammatory processes and conditions. In this paper, we have collated, summarised and evaluated studies investigating these areas. Twenty-one studies in laboratory animals suggest that some aspects of innate and adaptive immunity of the gut and the systemic immune systems are modified by β2-1 fructans. In man, two studies in children and nine studies in adults indicate that the adaptive immune system may be modified by β2-1 fructans. Thirteen studies in animal models of intestinal infections conclude a beneficial effect of β2-1 fructans. Ten trials involving infants and children have mostly reported benefits on infectious outcomes; in fifteen adult trials, little effect was generally seen, although in specific situations, certain β2-1 fructans may be beneficial. Ten studies in animal models show benefit of β2-1 fructans with regard to intestinal inflammation. Human studies report some benefits regarding inflammatory bowel disease (four positive studies) and atopic dermatitis (one positive study), but findings in irritable bowel syndrome are inconsistent. Therefore, overall the results indicate that β2-1 fructans are able to modulate some aspects of immune function, to improve the host's ability to respond successfully to certain intestinal infections, and to modify some inflammatory conditions.

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