Repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on athletes: a cross-sectional study

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges and implications for the sports community. Thus, this study aimed to describe the prevalence of COVID-19 in Brazilian athletes and identify the epidemiological, clinical, athletic, life and health factors associated with the disease in these individuals. A cross-sectional study was performed involving 414 athletes from 22 different sports using an online questionnaire from August to November 2020. The association between the athletes’ characteristics and COVID-19 was evaluated using a logistic regression model. The prevalence of COVID-19 was 8.5%, although only 40% of athletes reported having been tested. Being under 27 years of age (3-fold), having children (~5-fold), having a teammate test positive for COVID-19 (2.5-fold), and smoking (14-fold) were associated with a possible higher risk of disease. Almost 20% of athletes self-reported musculoskeletal injuries during the period of the pandemic that was studied. Athletes with a university education (P = 0.02), a profession other than sports (P < 0.001), those from a low-income family (P = 0.01), and public health system users (P = 0.04) were significantly less frequently tested for COVID-19, whereas international competitors, athletes who received a wage, and athletes who had a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19 were 2-, 3-, and 15-fold more likely to be tested for COVID-19, respectively. Approximately 26% of the athletes who tested negative or were untested reported more than three characteristic COVID-19 symptoms, and 11% of athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic. The identification of modifiable (have children, smoking, and teammates positively tested) and non-modifiable (age under 27 years) factors related to COVID-19 in athletes can contribute to implementing surveillance programmes to decrease the incidence of COVID-19 in athletes and its negative impacts in sports.     

Effects of single and dual species herbivory on the behavioral responses of three thrips species to cotton seedlings

This study investigated the olfactory responses of 3 thrips species [Frankliniella schultzei Trybom, F. occidentalis Pergrande and Thrips tabaci Lindeman (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)] to cotton seedlings [Gossypium hirsutum L. (Malvales: Malvaceae)] simultaneously damaged by different combinations of herbivores. Cotton seedlings were damaged by foliar feeding Tetranychus urticae Koch (Trombidiforms: Tetranychidae), Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae) or root feeding Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Thrips responses to plants simultaneously damaged by 2 species of herbivore were additive and equivalent to the sum of the responses of thrips to plants damaged by single herbivore species feeding alone. For example, F. occidentalis was attracted to T. urticae damaged plants but more attracted to undamaged plants than to plants damaged by H. armigera. Plants simultaneously damaged by low densities of T. urticae and H. armigera repelled F. occidentalis but as T. urticae density increased relative to H. armigera density, F. occidentalis attraction to coinfested plants increased proportionally. Thrips tabaci did not discriminate between undamaged plants and plants damaged by H. armigera but were attracted to plants damaged by T. urticae alone or simultaneously damaged by T. urticae and H. armigera. Olfactometer assays showed that simultaneous feeding by 2 herbivores on a plant can affect predator–prey interactions. Attraction of F. occidentalis to plants damaged by its T. urticae prey was reduced when the plant was simultaneously damaged by H. armigera, T. molitor, or A. gossypii and F. schultzei was more attracted to plants simultaneously damaged by T. urticae and H. armigera than to plants damaged by T. urticae alone. We conclude that plant responses to feeding by 1 species of herbivore are affected by responses to feeding by other herbivores. These plant‐mediated interactions between herbivore complexes affect the behavioral responses of thrips which vary between species and are highly context dependent.     

Global transcriptional response of pig brain and lung to natural infection by Pseudorabies virus

Background  

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is an alphaherpesviruses whose native host is pig. PRV infection mainly causes signs of central nervous system disorder in young pigs, and respiratory system diseases in the adult.     

华南丘陵地区农林复合生态系统晚稻田甲烷和氧化亚氮排放

采用静态箱-气相色谱法对晚稻田甲烷(CH4)和氧化亚氮(N2O)排放进行田间原位测定。结果表明,有植株参与的稻田CH4排放通量季节变化与地下5cm温度呈显著正相关关系。稻田CH4和N2O季节平均排放通量在有植株参与时分别为1.16±0.38mgm-2h-1和42.33±20.00μgm-2h-1,而无植株参与的分别为0.15±0.11mgm-2h-1和51.69±15.87μgm-2h-1。水稻种植对CH4的排放影响较大,对N2O的排放影响较小,有植株参与的稻田CH4平均排放量显著高于无植株参与的稻田,N2O的平均排放量无显著差异。     

Network medicine analysis of COPD multimorbidities

Background

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often suffer concomitant disorders that worsen significantly their health status and vital prognosis. The pathogenic mechanisms underlying COPD multimorbidities are not completely understood, thus the exploration of potential molecular and biological linkages between COPD and their associated diseases is of great interest.

Methods

We developed a novel, unbiased, integrative network medicine approach for the analysis of the diseasome, interactome, the biological pathways and tobacco smoke exposome, which has been applied to the study of 16 prevalent COPD multimorbidities identified by clinical experts.

Results

Our analyses indicate that all COPD multimorbidities studied here are related at the molecular and biological level, sharing genes, proteins and biological pathways. By inspecting the connections of COPD with their associated diseases in more detail, we identified known biological pathways involved in COPD, such as inflammation, endothelial dysfunction or apoptosis, serving as a proof of concept of the methodology. More interestingly, we found previously overlooked biological pathways that might contribute to explain COPD multimorbidities, such as hemostasis in COPD multimorbidities other than cardiovascular disorders, and cell cycle pathway in the association of COPD with depression. Moreover, we also observed similarities between COPD multimorbidities at the pathway level, suggesting common biological mechanisms for different COPD multimorbidities. Finally, chemicals contained in the tobacco smoke target an average of 69% of the identified proteins participating in COPD multimorbidities.

Conclusions

The network medicine approach presented here allowed the identification of plausible molecular links between COPD and comorbid diseases, and showed that many of them are targets of the tobacco exposome, proposing new areas of research for understanding the molecular underpinning of COPD multimorbidities.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-014-0111-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Interactions between cognitive and sensory load while planning and controlling complex gait adaptations in Parkinson’s disease

Background

Recent research has argued that removal of relevant sensory information during the planning and control of simple, self-paced walking can result in increased demand on central processing resources in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, little is known about more complex gait tasks that require planning of gait adaptations to cross over an obstacle in PD.

Methods

In order to understand the interaction between availability of visual information relevant for self-motion and cognitive load, the current study evaluated PD participants and healthy controls while walking toward and stepping over an obstacle in three visual feedback conditions: (i) no visual restrictions; (ii) vision of the obstacle and their lower limbs while in complete darkness; (iii) vision of the obstacle only while in complete darkness; as well as two conditions including a cognitive load (with a dual task versus without a dual task). Each walk trial was divided into an early and late phase to examine changes associated with planning of step adjustments when approaching the obstacle.

Results

Interactions between visual feedback and dual task conditions during the obstacle approach were not significant. Patients with PD had greater deceleration and step time variability in the late phase of the obstacle approach phase while walking in both dark conditions compared to control participants. Additionally, participants with PD had a greater number of obstacle contacts when vision of their lower limbs was not available specifically during the dual task condition. Dual task performance was worse in PD compared to healthy control participants, but notably only while walking in the dark regardless of visual feedback.

Conclusions

These results suggest that reducing visual feedback while approaching an obstacle shifts processing to somatosensory feedback to guide movement which imposes a greater demand on planning resources. These results are key to fully understanding why trips and falls occur in those with PD.

     

Multivalent nanobodies targeting death receptor 5 elicit superior tumor cell killing through efficient caspase induction

Multiple therapeutic agonists of death receptor 5 (DR5) have been developed and are under clinical evaluation. Although these agonists demonstrate significant anti-tumor activity in preclinical models, the clinical efficacy in human cancer patients has been notably disappointing. One possible explanation might be that the current classes of therapeutic molecules are not sufficiently potent to elicit significant response in patients, particularly for dimeric antibody agonists that require secondary cross-linking via Fcγ receptors expressed on immune cells to achieve optimal clustering of DR5. To overcome this limitation, a novel multivalent Nanobody approach was taken with the goal of generating a significantly more potent DR5 agonist. In the present study, we show that trivalent DR5 targeting Nanobodies mimic the activity of natural ligand, and furthermore, increasing the valency of domains to tetramer and pentamer markedly increased potency of cell killing on tumor cells, with pentamers being more potent than tetramers in vitro. Increased potency was attributed to faster kinetics of death-inducing signaling complex assembly and caspase-8 and caspase-3 activation. In vivo, multivalent Nanobody molecules elicited superior anti-tumor activity compared to a conventional DR5 agonist antibody, including the ability to induce tumor regression in an insensitive patient-derived primary pancreatic tumor model. Furthermore, complete responses to Nanobody treatment were obtained in up to 50% of patient-derived primary pancreatic and colon tumor models, suggesting that multivalent DR5 Nanobodies may represent a significant new therapeutic modality for targeting death receptor signaling.