Does the compromised sleep and circadian disruption of night and shiftworkers make them highly vulnerable to 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19)?

ABSTRACT

Rotating and permanent night shiftwork schedules typically result in acute and sometimes chronic sleep deprivation plus acute and sometimes chronic disruption of the circadian time structure. Immune system processes and functionalities are organized as circadian rhythms, and they are also strongly influenced by sleep status. Sleep is a vital behavioral state of living beings and a modulator of immune function and responsiveness. Shiftworkers show increased risk for developing viral infections due to possible compromise of both innate and acquired immunity responses. Short sleep and sleep loss, common consequences of shiftwork, are associated with altered integrity of the immune system. We discuss the possible excess risk for COVID-19 infection in the context of the common conditions among shiftworkers, including nurses, doctors, and first responders, among others of high exposure to the contagion, of sleep imbalance and circadian disruption.     

Comparing the lactate and EMG thresholds of recreational cyclists during incremental pedaling exercise

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of using the electromyography (EMG) signal as a noninvasive method of estimating the lactate threshold (LT) power output in recreational cyclists. Using an electromagnetic bicycle ergometer and constant pedaling cadence of 80 rpm, 24 recreational cyclists performed an incremental exercise protocol that consisted of stepwise increases in power output of 25 W every 3 min until exhaustion. The EMG signal was recorded from the right vastus lateralis (VL) and right rectus femoris (RF) throughout the test. Blood samples were taken from the fingertip every 3 min. The LT was determined by examining the relation between the lactate concentration and the power output using a log-log transformation model. The root mean square (RMS) value from the EMG signal was calculated for every 1-second non-superimposing window. Sets of pairs of straight regression lines were plotted and the corresponding determination coefficients (R(2)) were calculated. The intersection point of the pair of lines with the highest R(2) product was chosen to represent the EMG threshold (EMGT). The results showed that the correlation coefficients (r) between EMGT and LT were significant (p < 0.01) and high for the VL (r = 0.826) and RF (r = 0.872). The RF and VL muscles showed similar behavior during the maximal incremental test and the EMGT and LT power output were equivalent for both muscles. The validity of using EMG to estimate the LT power output in recreational cyclists was confirmed.     

Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus: distinct acute phase proteins vary during infestations according to the genetic composition of the bovine hosts, Bos taurus and Bos indicus

Tick bites may trigger acute phase responses. Positive and negative acute phase proteins were measured in infested cattle genetically resistant and susceptible to ticks. During heavier infestations levels of haptoglobin increased significantly in susceptible bovines; levels of serum amyloid A increased in resistant bovines; levels of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein decreased significantly in resistant bovines; levels of transferrin decreased significantly in susceptible bovines. In conclusion, tick infestations trigger acute phase responses and enhancement of specific acute phase proteins differs according to the genetic composition of hosts. Acute phase proteins may constitute useful biological signatures for monitoring the stress induced by tick infestations.     

Mitogenic activity of Cratylia mollis lectin on human lymphocytes.

The mitogenic effect of Cratylia mollis seed lectin preparations containing two (Cramoll 1,4) or one molecular form (Cramoll 1) showed activity similar to the well known T-cell mitogen, concanavalin A (Con A). The effect on human lymphocytes was analyzed through a colorimetric assay using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT). Inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation with methyl-alpha-d-mannoside (both preparations) indicated that the mitogenic effect involved carbohydrate lectin binding sites.     

Ovicidal activity of Paecilomyces lilacinus on Moniezia sp. eggs

The ovicidal activity of Paecilomyces lilacinus was evaluated on Moniezia sp. eggs. Eggs of Moniezia sp. were incubated on plates with 2% agar-water inoculated with grown fungal isolates and a control treatment without fungus. After 5, 10 and 15 days post-inoculation, the eggs were removed and classified according to the following parameters: effect type 1, lytic effect without morphological damage to eggshells; effect type 2, lytic effect with morphological change in embryos and eggshells; and effect type 3, lytic effect with morphological change in embryos and eggshells, with hyphal penetration and internal colonization of eggs. Paecilomyces lilacinus showed percentages for ovicidal activity (P < 0.01), mainly type 3 effect, of 19, 20 and 23% on eggs of Moniezia sp., after 5, 10 and 15 days post-inoculation, respectively. Therefore P. lilacinus can be considered as a potential biological control agent for this cestode.     

Comparison of several insulin sensitivity indices derived from basal plasma insulin and glucose levels with minimal model indices.

Some techniques for the evaluation of insulin resistance (IR), such as the clamp technique, are not viable for the study of large populations; and for this reason, alternative approaches based on fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and plasma insulin (FPI) have been proposed. The aim of this study was to compare the IR calculations obtained from FPI and FPG values with the insulin sensitivity (IS) index derived from the minimal model. Eighty-seven healthy subjects with a wide range of body mass index (18 - 44 kg x m -2) and 16 DM2 non-obese patients were included in the study. All of the patients underwent a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGTT), and the minimal model of glucose was used for the estimation of insulin sensitivity (IS MINIMAL ). The HOMA-IR index, the Avignon index, and the quotient FPG/FPI were used to calculate basal steady-state IR. The basal IR value that best correlated with IS was Log (1/HOMA-IR) (r = 0.70, p < 0.001). All of the basal indices showed a high correlation with each other. In conclusions, insulin sensitivity indices as determined from the basal glycaemia and insulinemia values are not good estimators for metabolic reality from the perspective of the minimal model. Nevertheless, they might well have an IR screening value for epidemiological studies, as long as there is no pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction.     

BIOMOD – a platform for ensemble forecasting of species distributions

BIOMOD is a computer platform for ensemble forecasting of species distributions, enabling the treatment of a range of methodological uncertainties in models and the examination of species-environment relationships. BIOMOD includes the ability to model species distributions with several techniques, test models with a wide range of approaches, project species distributions into different environmental conditions (e.g. climate or land use change scenarios) and dispersal functions. It allows assessing species temporal turnover, plot species response curves, and test the strength of species interactions with predictor variables. BIOMOD is implemented in R and is a freeware, open source, package.     

NapA and NapB are the Aspergillus nidulans Nap/SET family members and NapB is a nuclear protein specifically interacting with importin alpha

In eukaryotic cells, importin alpha is the major carrier for transport protein cargoes into the nucleus. We characterize here kapA, the single Aspergillus nidulans gene encoding an importin alpha. Using an affinity approach, we identify six potential interactors of KapA(50), a deleted version of KapA lacking the autoinhibitory importin-beta-binding domain. One such interactor is NapB, the A. nidulans orthologue of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Vps75p, a histone chaperone member of the Nap/SET family of proteins that additionally plays a cytosolic role in vacuolar protein sorting. NapB, but not its close relative NapA (the A. nidulans orthologue of yeast Nap1p) interacts directly with KapA(50) in pull down assays, despite the fact that NapB does not contain a classical nuclear localization sequence. NapB is a nuclear protein which exits nuclei at the onset of mitosis when two simultaneous mechanisms might be acting, the partial disassembly of the nuclear pore complexes and as yet unidentified posttranslational modification of NapB. The mitotic cytosolic localization of NapB might facilitate its putative role in the sorting of protein cargoes to the vacuole. In addition, we show that NapB and the mitotic B-type cyclin NimE compete for in vitro binding to KapA.     

Dermaseptins from Phyllomedusa oreades and Phyllomedusa distincta: Secondary structure, antimicrobial activity, and mammalian cell toxicity

The present study reports the structural characteristics, the biological activities, and preliminary clinical investigations of three synthetic members of the dermaseptin family of antimicrobial peptides. The three peptides showed similar tendencies to form alpha-helical structures in non-polar media. The antimicrobial activity towards bacteria and fungi was determined in the micromolar concentration and the peptides did not influenced peritoneal cells viability. One of the peptides was intravenously administered in mice at concentrations similar to those of antibiotics employed in bacterial/fungal infections and it did not cause any detectable changes in cells and tissues.