COVID Spike Protein Binds to Heart’s Vascular Cells – May Contribute to Severe Microvascular Damage

A new study has shown how SARS-CoV-2 may contribute to severe microvascular damage seen in severely-ill COVID-19 patients by transforming human heart vascular cells into... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3H0aUyg

ONTdeCIPHER: An amplicon-based nanopore sequencing pipeline for tracking pathogen variants

Abstract Motivation Amplicon-based nanopore sequencing is increasingly used for molecular surveillance during epidemics (e.g. ZIKA, EBOLA) or pandemics (e.g. SARS-CoV-2). However, there is still a lack of versatile and easy-to-use tools that allow users with minimal bioinformatics skills to perform the main steps of downstream analysis, from quality testing to SNPs effect to phylogenetic analysis. Results Here, we present ONTdeCIPHER, an amplicon-based Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) sequencing pipeline to analyze the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogenes. Our pipeline integrates 13 bioinformatics tools. With a single command line and a simple configuration file, users can pre-process their data and obtain the sequencing statistics, reconstruct the consensus genome, identify variants and their effects for each viral isolate, infer lineage and, finally perform multi-sequence alignments and phylogenetic analyses. Availability ONTdeCIPHER is available at https://bit.ly/35q8Fr0 Supplementary information Supplementary dataSupplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
https://bit.ly/3u2kmyj

Cleaning May Not Protect You From This Cancer-Causing Chemical Inside Your Car

Masks could work for more than COVID-19 An N95 mask might protect commuters from aerosolized TDCIPP, a step commuters might consider since cleaning the car’s... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3KNc6Iw

MIT Quantum COVID Sensor May Offer Faster, Cheaper, and More Accurate Detection of SARS-CoV-2

Sensor Based on Quantum Physics Could Detect SARS-CoV-2 Virus Mathematical simulations show the new approach may offer faster, cheaper, and more accurate detection, including identifying... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/32n4Scf

Chewing Gum Developed That Could Reduce COVID Transmission – Laced With Protein That “Traps” the SARS-CoV-2 Virus

A chewing gum laced with a plant-grown protein serves as a “trap” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reducing viral load in saliva and potentially tamping down... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3lUAzkr

Study Reveals Wide Spectrum of COVID-19 Brain Complications – Including Stroke, Hemorrhage, and Other Fatal Complications

The largest multi-institutional international study to date on brain complications of COVID-19 has found that approximately one in 100 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 will likely... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3I3cGjL

Lung Autopsies of COVID-19 Patients Reveal How Virus Spreads and Damages Tissue, Treatment Clues

SARS-CoV-2 prevents lung tissue repair, regeneration. Lung autopsy and plasma samples from people who died of COVID-19 have provided a clearer picture of how the... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3xAb6Br

CDC Expands Eligibility for COVID-19 Booster Shots to All Adults Ages 18 Years and Older

On November 19, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) expanded recommendations for booster shots to... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3FDKAtG

NIH-Supported Long-Term Study of Children With COVID-19 Begins

NIH-supported research will track effects of COVID-19 infection on children over three years. A large, long-term study of the impacts of COVID-19 on children has... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3lcPCWj

COVID-19 Outbreak May Pose Threat to Wild Mountain Gorillas in Volcanoes National Park

A COVID-19 outbreak among wild mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, could lead to the collapse of the population, according to a modeling... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/30m0Foj

Daily briefing: Pfizer’s COVID pill looks promising

Nature, Published online: 08 November 2021; doi:10.1038/d41586-021-03379-5 Pfizer antiviral cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% for vulnerable people newly diagnosed with COVID-19. Plus, what sponges can tell us about the nervous system, and scientists judge the COP pledges so far.
https://go.nature.com/3D35qS4

Affordable Saliva-Based COVID-19 Test May Provide At-Home Results in 30 Minutes

Penn State electrical engineering professor Aida Ebrahimi receives NIH Trailblazer Award to develop a daily testing device. Current COVID-19 tests require laboratory processing, resulting in... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3B04YT2

Powerful COVID-19 Research Tool: Scientists Create Noninfectious Versions of SARS-CoV-2

To study a virus as infectious as SARS-CoV-2, researchers need to follow laborious protocols and have access to high-biosafety laboratories. Seeking to make such investigations... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3aVxs5C

Alzheimer’s Disease and COVID-19 Share a Genetic Risk Factor

An anti-viral gene that impacts the risk of both Alzheimer’s disease and severe Covid-19 has been identified by a UCL-led research team. The researchers estimate... The post appeared first on SciTechDaily .
https://bit.ly/3BNSrDn

Nationwide rollout reveals efficacy of epidemic control through digital contact tracing

Nature Communications, Published online: 11 October 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26144-8The effectiveness of digital contact tracing for COVID-19 control remains uncertain. Here, the authors use data from the Smittestopp app, used in Norway in spring 2020, and estimate that 80% of nearby devices were detected by the app, and at least 11% of close contacts were not visible to manual contact tracing.
https://go.nature.com/2YLZEp3

Watching SARS-CoV-2 Spread in Animal Models in Real Time Using New “Reporter Viruses”

New “reporter viruses” developed by Texas Biomed researchers make it much easier to observe SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in cells and live animals in the... The post Watching SARS-CoV-2 Spread in Animal Models in Real Time Using New “Reporter Viruses” appeared first on SciTechDaily.
https://bit.ly/2YoIBZJ

New Study Reveals Lung Cell Roles in Pulmonary Immunity – Essential to COVID-19, Pneumonia, Lung Cancer, Asthma and COPD

Findings have implications in understanding, preventing and treating multiple lung diseases. Lung immunity is essential to combat all pulmonary diseases, including COVID-19, pneumonia, lung cancer,...

The post New Study Reveals Lung Cell Roles in Pulmonary Immunity – Essential to COVID-19, Pneumonia, Lung Cancer, Asthma and COPD appeared first on SciTechDaily.

https://bit.ly/3A9kRpD

COVID-19 Can Trigger Guillain-Barré Syndrome

A new paper in Brain, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that a COVID-19 infection may prompt Guillain-Barré syndrome. Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic...

The post COVID-19 Can Trigger Guillain-Barré Syndrome appeared first on SciTechDaily.

https://bit.ly/3l0oBp1

Possible future waves of SARS-CoV-2 infection generated by variants of concern with a range of characteristics

Nature Communications, Published online: 30 September 2021; doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25915-7

Understanding the potential impacts of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 is important for pandemic planning. Here, the authors develop a model incorporating hypothetical new variants with varying transmissibility and immune evasion properties, and use it to project possible future epidemic waves in the UK. https://go.nature.com/3F853qP

Immunity to COVID-19: Spike Protein Docking Site Is Achilles’ Heel of the Coronavirus

Around 20% of those who have recovered from Covid-19 fail to develop immune protection against SARS-CoV-2, according to a MedUni Vienna research team led by...

The post Immunity to COVID-19: Spike Protein Docking Site Is Achilles’ Heel of the Coronavirus appeared first on SciTechDaily.

https://bit.ly/3khiHzq