关键词： COVID-19 pandemic   Physical inactivity   Physical fitness   Cytokines, immunocytes   EXERCISE   IMMUNITY   SERIES  

摘要： The prolonged period of COVID-19 has ingrained physical inactivity as a habit, leading to a reluctance to move. This has resulted in a decline in physical fitness and the loss of a healthy body composition. While this trend is particularly noticeable among the older adults, its impact on the immune cell defense system, which is crucial for minimizing viral infections, remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the physical fitness, body composition, cytokines and immunocytes of older adults who engaged in physical activity (PA) before the COVID-19 pandemic but had to stop it due to the lockdown. A total of 172 older adults aged 61 to 85 years participated in this study: 90 in non-PA group (NPAG, 34 men and 56 women), and 82 in PA group (PAG, 29 men and 53 women). Physical inactivity was 45.13 +/- 5.67 weeks in the NPAG and 1.70 +/- 0.43 weeks in the PAG. Although there was no significant difference in calorie intake, PA volume showed a significant decrease in NPGA (P < 0.001). VO2max, strength, and sit-ups decreased in NPAG, whereas they maintained or increased in PAG (Ps < 0.001). NPAG experienced an increase in fat mass ( 33.0 %), along with a decrease in muscle mass ( 10.4 %), but PAG showed slight increases ( 1.1 % vs. 1.5 %, Ps < 0.001). Interleukin-6 ( 38.9 %), tumor necrosis factor-alpha ( 38.3 %), and C-reactive protein ( 33.6 %) increased, whereas immunocytes decreased in NPAG (Ps < 0.001). In contrast, those in PAG showed the opposite phenomenon. This study indicates that even during the COVID-19 situation, maintaining active PA in the older adults helps retain beneficial physical fitness and body composition, reduces inflammatory factors, and contributes to preserving or enhancing the function of immunocytes.

关键词： Wastewater surveillance   SARS-CoV-2   N1 and N2 genes   SC2 assay   Dynamic time warping   Vector autoregression model   TIME   VIRUS   SURVEILLANCE  

摘要： To monitor COVID-19 through wastewater surveillance, global researchers dedicated significant endeavors and resources to develop and implement diverse RT-qPCR or RT-ddPCR assays targeting different genes of SARS-CoV2. Effective wastewater surveillance hinges on the appropriate selection of the most suitable assay, especially for resource -constrained regions where scant technical and socioeconomic resources restrict the options for testing with multiple assays. Further research is imperative to evaluate the existing assays through comprehensive comparative analyses. Such analyses are crucial for health agencies and wastewater surveillance practitioners in the selection of appropriate methods for monitoring COVID-19. In this study, untreated wastewater samples were collected weekly from the Detroit wastewater treatment plant, Michigan, USA, between January and December 2023. Polyethylene glycol precipitation (PEG) was applied to concentrate the samples followed by RNA extraction and RT-ddPCR. Three assays including N1, N2 (US CDC Real -Time Reverse Transcription PCR Panel for Detection of SARS-CoV-2), and SC2 assay (US CDC Influenza SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Assay) were implemented to detect SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The limit of blank and limit of detection for the three assays were experimentally determined. SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations were evaluated and compared through three statistical approaches, including Pearson and Spearman's rank correlations, Dynamic Time Warping, and vector autoregressive models. N1 and N2 demonstrated the highest correlation and most similar time series patterns. Conversely, N2 and SC2 assay demonstrated the lowest correlation and least similar time series patterns. N2 was identified as the optimal target to predict COVID-19 cases. This study presents a rigorous effort in evaluating and comparing SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations quantified with N1, N2, and SC2 assays and their interrelations and correlations with clinical cases. This study pro

摘要： Background Infection risk and mortality are increased in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, which was corroborated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, evidence is lacking regarding the additional impact of antipsychotic drugs, and the highly debated safety of clozapine treatment during large-scale infection outbreaks. Therefore, we aimed to investigate risk of COVID-19 and non-COVID respiratory infections during exposure to antipsychotics. Methods We used several nationwide Danish registers (National Prescription Registry, National Hospital Registry, Psychiatric Research Register, Microbiology Database, Vaccination Registry, Cause of Death Registry, and Database for Labour market Research) to investigate all individuals aged 18 years or older with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (ICD-10: F20–F29) living in Denmark between Jan 1 and March 1, 2020. Antipsychotic exposure groups were defined as prevalent-users and incident-users. The full observation period was March 1, 2020 to Dec 31, 2021. Antipsychotic exposure was defined in a time-varying manner and compared with non-exposure. Risk was calculated for mild infection outcomes (positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR and anti-infective drug prescriptions) and severe infection outcomes (hospitalisation and death) related to COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 respiratory infections. Outcomes were adjusted for demographics, socio-economic factors, and comorbidity. Findings Of 85 083 individuals (44 293 men [52·1%] and 40 790 women [47·9%], median age 45·8 years [IQR 31·1–60·2]) with pre-existing schizophrenia spectrum disorders, 30 984 had antipsychotic exposure periods. Ethnicity data were not available. During antipsychotic exposure compared with non-exposed periods, assessing mild infection outcomes, risk of a positive SARS-CoV-2 test was decreased (hazard ratio 0·91 [95% CI 0·85–0·97]) and risk of redeeming an anti-infective drug was not statistically significantly different (1·01 [0·97–1·06]). For severe infection outcomes, COVID-19-re