IMI-CDE: an interactive interface for collaborative mapping of study variables to common data elements

The National Institute of Health (NIH) launches the RADx Radical research collaboratives (RADx-rad) to advance new, non-traditional approaches for COVID-19 testing. RADx-rad projects are required to adopt common data elements (CDEs) to collect data to increase data interoperability. To overcome the challenges in finding appropriate CDEs for a wide range of study variables, we create a web application - IMI-CDE to ease the burden of mapping study variables to CDEs from researchers. IMI-CDE can automatically recommend CDE candidates for a study variable based on its name and description. Together with interactive mapping interfaces, IMI-CDE allows researchers to perform variable-CDE mapping with one mouse click. In addition, the IMI-CDE application supports users with multiple roles to work collaboratively on the mapping tasks. We have piloted the IMI-CDE with RADx-rad projects. 22 researchers from 8 different projects have started to use the IMI-CDE system for variable-CDE mappings. The beta-testing evaluators reported the system is intuitive, effective, and easy to use. © 2022 IEEE.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition induced by SARS-CoV-2 required transcriptional upregulation of Snail

The engagement of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein facilitate virus spread. Thus far, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression is correlated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) gene signature in lung cancer. However, the mechanism for SARS-CoV-2-induced EMT has not been thoroughly explored. Here, we showed that SARS-CoV-2 induces EMT phenotypic change and stemness in breast cancer cell model and subsequently identified Snail as a modulator for this regulation. The in-depth analysis identifies the spike protein (S), but not envelope (E), nucleocapsid (N), or membrane protein (M), of SARS-CoV-2 induces EMT marker changes. Suppression of Snail expression in these cells abrogates S protein-induced invasion, migration, stemness, and lung metastasis, suggesting that Snail is required for SARS-CoV-2-mediated aggressive phenotype in cancer. This study reveals an important oncogenic role of SARS-CoV-2 in triggering breast cancer metastasis through Snail upregulation.

The impacts on bystander and dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation during COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: The impact of emerging infections disease pandemic such as COVID-19 on bystander CPR performance is not well known. Materials-and-methods: This was an observational database prospectively collected from National Registry for DACPR (dispatcher-assisted CPR), a continuous quality control for OHCA by audio records analyses of EMS calls. The performance of DACPR before and after the COVID-19 epidemic was compared among four individual EMS systems (three metropolitan and one suburban). The bystander chest compressions (BCC) rate prior to the call, successful delivery of BCC after dispatcher-assisted, and the continuity of CC until hand-over by the paramedics after arrival (HCC) as the categorical indicators, and the operational time interval corresponding to call-to-compression were evaluated and analyzed using Pearson's chi-squared test, Independent t-test, and Kruskal–Wallis test with SPSS Version 22. Results: In a total of 3263 eligible patients from four EMS systems, for patients already receiving BCC prior to the call, though showing a tendency of decrease, there were no significant differences after the epidemics (A: 3.6% vs. 5.7%, p = 0.13;B: 4.5% vs. 6.1%, p = 0.46;C: 6.0% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.71;D: 6.8% vs. 10.7%, p = 0.59;Total: 4.9% vs. 6.4%, p = 0.11). For dispatcher-assisted BCC delivery, a metropolitan (B) significantly decreased and the suburban (D) significantly increased (A: 55.0% vs. 56.1%, p = 0.72;B: 41.8% vs. 52.3%, p = 0.03;C: 60.6% vs. 56.5%, p = 0.19;D: 83.0% vs. 60.2%, p < 0.01;Total: 56.8% vs. 55.6%, p = 0.53). For continuity of HCC, a metropolitan(C) and the suburban (D) both significantly increased as well as the total cases (A: 43.9% vs. 46.4%, p = 0.43;B: 28.5% vs. 31.0%, p = 0.56;C: 54.0% vs. 40.0%, p < 0.01;D: 77.4% vs. 59.3%, p = 0.02;Total: 47.4%vs.41.3%, p < 0.01). For call-to-compression interval, all regions showed a tendency to be faster without significance (A: 185 vs. 189 s, p = 0.8;B: 141 vs. 156 s, p = 0.19;C: 173 vs. 182 s, p = 0.12;D: 156 vs. 171 s, p = 0.27;Total: 164 vs. 172 s, p = 0.19). Conclusions: The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic showed a tendency to decrease BCC prior to dispatcher-assisted, and were significantly varied for dispatcher-assisted BCC among different EMS systems, however the timely BCC would not be delayed. Continuity of BCC even significantly increased under the national continuous auditing.