Mutation Y453F in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 enhances interaction with the mink ACE2 receptor for host adaption

COVID-19 patients transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to minks in the Netherlands in April 2020. Subsequently, the mink-associated virus (miSARS-CoV-2) spilled back over into humans. Genetic sequences of the miSARS-CoV-2 identified a new genetic variant known as “Cluster 5” that contained mutations in the spike protein. However, the functional properties of these “Cluster 5” mutations have not been well established. In this study, we found that the Y453F mutation located in the RBD domain of miSARS-CoV-2 is an adaptive mutation that enhances binding to mink ACE2 and other orthologs of Mustela species without compromising, and even enhancing, its ability to utilize human ACE2 as a receptor for entry. Structural analysis suggested that despite the similarity in the overall binding mode of SARS-CoV-2 RBD to human and mink ACE2, Y34 of mink ACE2 was better suited to interact with a Phe rather than a Tyr at position 453 of the viral RBD due to less steric clash and tighter hydrophobic-driven interaction. Additionally, the Y453F spike exhibited resistance to convalescent serum, posing a risk for vaccine development. Thus, our study suggests that since the initial transmission from humans, SARS-CoV-2 evolved to adapt to the mink host, leading to widespread circulation among minks while still retaining its ability to efficiently utilize human ACE2 for entry, thus allowing for transmission of the miSARS-CoV-2 back into humans. These findings underscore the importance of active surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in Mustela species and other susceptible hosts in order to prevent future outbreaks.

Mutation Y453F in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 enhances interaction with the mink ACE2 receptor for host adaption

COVID-19 patients transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to minks in the Netherlands in April 2020.Subsequently, the mink-associated virus (miSARS-CoV-2) spilled back over into humans.Genetic sequences of the miSARS-CoV-2 identified a new genetic variant known as "Cluster 5" that contained mutations in the spike protein. However, the functional properties of these "Cluster 5" mutations have not been well established. In this study, we found that the Y453F mutation located in the RBD domain of miSARS-CoV-2 is an adaptive mutation that enhances binding to mink ACE2 and other orthologs of Mustela species without compromising, and even enhancing, its ability to utilize human ACE2 as a receptor for entry.Structural analysis suggested that despite the similarity in the overall binding mode of SARS-CoV-2 RBD to human and mink ACE2, Y34 of mink ACE2 was better suited to interact with a Phe rather than a Tyr at position 453 of the viral RBD due to less steric clash and tighter hydrophobic-driven interaction. Additionally, the Y453F spike exhibited resistance to convalescent serum, posing a risk for vaccine development. Thus, our study suggests that since the initial transmission from humans, SARS-CoV-2 evolved to adapt to the mink host, leading to widespread circulation among minks while still retaining its ability to efficiently utilize human ACE2 for entry, thus allowing for transmission of the miSARS-CoV-2 back into humans. These findings underscore the importance of active surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in Mustela species and other susceptible hosts in order to prevent future outbreaks.

Investigation of Initial Transmission Effect on Saturable Absorber Optical Performance of Passive Q-Switching Doped Fiber Laser

Study of initial transmission effect on performance of saturable absorber material with Er+3 doped fiber laser was studied. Cr+4: YAG used as a saturable absorber (SA) in the study. Software computer program buildup in this study for numerical solving of rate equations model by Rung - Kutta –Fehlberg method. The study reported that the maximum optical bleaching, Threshold population inversion density are occurs at earlier buildup time of passive Q-switched, and the pulse reaches high power whenever SA characterized by low initial transmission. The study explains that related to the effect of SA initial transmission on the number density of photons feedback in resonator of laser system.

Modeling the waves of Covid-19

Classical approaches to modeling the spread of epidemics are based on two assumptions: the exponential growth of the total number of infections and the saturation due to the herd immunity. With Covid-19, the growth is essentially power-type, especially during the middle stages, and the saturation is currently mostly due to the protective measures. Focusing on these features and the role of epidemic management, we obtain differential equations for the total number of detected cases of Covid-19, which describe the actual curves in many countries almost with the accuracy of physics laws. The two-phase solution we propose worked very well almost for the whole periods of the spread practically in all countries we analyzed that reached the saturation during the first waves. Bessel functions play the key role in our approach. Due to a very small number of parameters, namely, the initial transmission rate and the intensity of the hard and soft measures, we obtain a convincing explanation of the surprising uniformity of the curves of the total numbers of detected infections in many different areas. This theory can serve as a tool for forecasting the epidemic spread and evaluating the efficiency of the protective measures, which is very much needed for epidemics. For instance, the accuracy was very high for the early projection for the 3rd wave in the USA; projections for India, South Africa and UK are considered.

Modeling the Dynamics of Coronavirus Disease Pandemic Coupled with Fear Epidemics

A modeling approach to investigate the dynamics of COVID-19 epidemics coupled with fear is presented in this paper. The basic reproduction number R 0 is computed and employed in analysing the effect of initial transmission and the conditions for disease control or eradication. Numerical simulations show that whenever there is an outbreak coupled with fear, the disease is likely to persist in the first two months, and after that, it will start to slow down as the recovery rate from fear increases. An increase in the number of recovered individuals lead to a rise in the number of susceptibles and consequently set off a second wave of infection in the third month of the epidemic.

Image Defogging Algorithm Based on Sky Region Segmentation and Dark Channel Prior

Based on image segmentation and the dark channel prior, this paper proposes a fog removal algorithm in the HSI color space. Usually, the dark channel prior based defogging methods easily produce color distortion and halo effect when applied on images with a large sky area, because the sky region does not meet the prior assumption. For this reason, our method presents a new threshold sky region segmentation algorithm using the initial transmission map of the intensity component I. Based on the segmentation result, the initial transmission map is modified in turn, and finally refined by the guided filter. The saturation components S is reconstructed using the low frequencies of the V-transform to reduce noise, and stretched by multiplying a constant related to the initial transmission map. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has low time complexity and compelling fog removal result in both visual effect and quantitative measurement.

A surprising formula for the spread of Covid-19 under aggressive management

We propose an algebraic-type formula that describes with high accuracy the total number of detected infections for the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries. Our 2-phase formula can be used as a powerful forecasting tool. It is based on the author’s new theory of momentum management of epidemics; Bessel functions are employed. Its 3 parameters are the initial transmission rate, reflecting the viral fitness and “normal” frequency of contacts in the infected areas, and the intensity of prevention measures at phases 1, 2. Austria, Brazil, Germany, Japan, India, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and the USA are considered. For the USA, all states are processed independently and some “interaction” is added; the forecasting software is provided.