MicroRNAs: The Master Regulators of the Breast Cancer Tumor Microenvironment

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer globally and is among the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Breast cancer mortality rates are increasing due to delays in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Identification and validation of blood-based breast cancer biomarkers for early detection is a top priority worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) show the potential to serve as breast cancer biomarkers. miRNAs are small, endogenously produced RNAs that regulate growth and development. However, oncogenic miRNAs also play a major role in tumor growth and can alter the tumor microenvironment (TME) in favor of cancer metastasis. The TME represents a complex network of diverse cancerous and noncancerous cell types, secretory proteins, growth factors, and miRNAs. Complex interactions within the TME can promote cancer progression and metastasis via multiple mechanisms, including oxidative stress, hypoxia, angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and cancer stem cell regulation. Here, we decipher the mechanisms of miRNA regulating the TME, intending to use that knowledge to identify miRNAs as therapeutic targets in breast cancer and use miRNAs as blood-based biomarkers. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

The impact of state paid sick leave policies on weekday workplace mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate whether the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) modified the association between pre-existing state paid sick leave (PSL) and weekday workplace mobility between February 15 and July 7, 2020. STUDY DESIGN: This was a longitudinal, observational study. METHODS: The 50 US states and Washington, D.C., were divided into exposure groups based on the presence or absence of pre-existing state PSL policies. Derived from Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, the outcome was measured as the daily percent change in weekday workplace mobility. Mixed-effects, interrupted time series regression was performed to evaluate weekday workplace mobility after the implementation of the FFCRA on April 1, 2020. RESULTS: States with pre-existing PSL policies exhibited a greater drop in mobility following the passage of the FFCRA (ß = -8.86, 95% confidence interval: -11.6, -6.10, P < 001). This remained significant after adjusting for state-level health, economic, and sociodemographic indicators (ß = -3.13, 95% confidence interval: -5.92, -0.34; P = .039). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-existing PSL policies were associated with a significant decline in weekday workplace mobility after the FFCRA, which may have influenced local health outcomes. The presence of pre-existing state policies may differentially influence the impact of federal legislation enacted during emergencies.

Name Entity Recognition on Covid-19 Dataset using Machine Learning algorithms

The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by such an explosive increase in media coverage and scientific publications that researchers find it difficult to keep up. So we are working on COVID-19 dataset on Omicron variant to recognise the name entity from a given text. We collect the COVID related data from newspaper or from tweets. This article covered the name entity like COVID variant name, organization name and location name, vaccine name. It include tokenisation, POS tagging, Chunking, levelling, editing and for run the program. It will help us to recognise the name entity like where the COVID spread (location) most, which variant spread most (variant name), which vaccine has been given (vaccine name) from huge dataset. In this work, we have identified the names. If we assume unemployment, economic downfall, death, recovery, depression, as a topic we can identify the topic names also, and in which phase it occurred. © 2022 IEEE.

COVID-19 forecasting and investigating the impact of the lockdown in India

This study aimed to forecast the growth pattern of COVID-19 in India and evaluate the impact of the lockdown on its transmission and mortality. Different models were compared for short-term forecasts, and it was found that the hybrid autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) with error-remodelling using fast Fourier transform produced more accurate estimates. Furthermore, the study utilized data from the first phase of the lockdown, which generated more precise predictions. The impact analysis revealed a significant trend break on 3 March for confirmed cases and 11 March for deaths. Overall, the study highlights the effectiveness of the lockdown measures in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in India and emphasizes the need for continued monitoring and surveillance to control its transmission.

COVID-19 Forecasting and Investigating the Impact of the Lockdown in India

The paper attempts to forecast the growth pattern of the COVID-19 spread in India and examines the impact of the lockdown on its spread and deaths. Comparing different models for short-term forecasts—hybrid autoregressive integrated moving average with error-remodelling using fast Fourier transform—has been found to have better accuracy. It is observed that the data set starting from the first phase of the lockdown generates more accurate estimates. The impact analysis shows a clear trend break on 3 March for confirmed cases and 11 March for the deaths. © 2023 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Perceived Stress and Eating Behaviors of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students of UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados

Objective: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and eating behaviors of university students in Barbados was investigated. Design and Methods: Students completed an online survey between June and July 2021 including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4), SCOFF Questionnaire, and Salzburg Stress Eating Scale. We used bivariate and multivariable logistic regression to assess factors associated with eating behaviour and eating disorders. Result(s): Of 506 respondents (mean age 26 years, 81.4% female, 85.2% undergraduates), 7.23% were underweight, 52.34% normal weight, 20.85% overweight, and 19.57% obese. PHQ-4 screening suggested anxiety prevalence of 46% (95% CI 42% to 51%) with 22% (95% CI 17% to 25%) severe anxiety, and 43% (95% CI 39% to 47%) depression prevalence. 22.5 % of students screened positive for eating disorders on the SCOFF;positive screen for eating disorder was more likely positive in obese (36%) vs underweight (15%) students (p Conclusion(s): The screening instruments indicated concerning levels of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Barbados. These conditions may remain undetected unless students seek help or are referred. Proactive health services and educational outreach are needed. Prevalence estimates should be viewed with caution until cut-off scores are empirically established for students in Barbados.

Self-Reported Post-Vaccination Adverse Events of COVID-19 Vaccines among Bangladeshi Medical Students

Objective: To investigate self-reported post-vaccination adverse events for COVID-19 vaccines among medical students in Bangladesh. Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire for Bangladeshi medical students (n = 3,545). Students who received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine were included. The study was carried out from October 2021 to January 2022 in 75 public and private medical colleges. Result(s): The majority of respondents were female (60.6%) and third-year (26.5%) students. >11% had tested positive for COVID-19 infection, and 97.6% of respondents (n = 3,461) received both first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccination. Most students (79.1%) received Sinopharm and 11.2% got AstraZeneca. More than two-thirds (67.9%) indicated that COVID-19 vaccines are safe in the long term. 54.8% of respondents (n = 1,842) reported one or more adverse events. Pain at injection site (78.2%), fever (49.3%), tiredness and fatigue (46.8%), headache (41.1%), generalized body ache (21.4%), over sleepiness/laziness (18.4%) and myalgia (17.5%) were the most commonly reported adverse events. 47.4% of respondents characterised adverse events as "mild". Majorities experienced symptoms within 12 hours of vaccination (68%) and for 1-3 days (56.8%). More than two-thirds (66.2%) of respondents had rest at home, and almost one-third (31.8%) took painkillers. Thirty-nine respondents visited physicians, mainly due to high fever, severe body ache, and severe headache, but there was no need for hospitalization. Conclusion(s): The majority of students reported adverse events, but symptoms were mild and of short duration. Further multi-centre studies with larger cohorts are required to monitor vaccine safety and strengthen public confidence in vaccines.

Medical student satisfaction in online modified clinical clerkship curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to medical education and clinical training. This not only affected delivery of the clinical curriculum but also resulted in stressors which may impede learning. This study aimed to assess the impact of a modified on-line curriculum in selected clinical clerkships in the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI, Cave Hill Campus, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and Methods: Fourth and Fifth year medical students completed an online survey in January 2021 covering the following areas: student satisfaction, self-efficacy (Online Learning Self-Efficacy Scale) and perceived effectiveness of online versus face-to-face learning. Students who agreed/strongly agreed to the statement "Overall, I was highly satisfied with the clerkship placement" were classified as satisfied. Result(s): 88 of 131 students completed the survey (response rate = 67 %). More than half of students (51%) were satisfied with online clerkship delivery. Fewer than half of students (46%) believed online learning effectively increased their knowledge, compared to 56% for face-to-face learning. Perception of effectiveness of online learning and face-to-face teaching of clinical skills was 18% and 89%, respectively (p < 0.0001). Fewer students perceived online teaching to be effective for developing social competencies (27%) compared to face-to-face instruction (67%) (p < 0.001). Students satisfied with online learning were more likely to be female (OR = 2.6) and older respondents. Mean self-efficacy scores were higher for persons who perceived online teaching to be effective for increasing knowledge, improving clinical skills, and social competencies. Students' perception of online learning was strongly associated with online selfefficacy. Conclusion(s): Students perceived online learning to be least effective for enhancing clinical skills. Students' perception of effectiveness of online learning was strongly associated with online self-efficacy. Further research to examine how the perception of online delivery impacts student performance in online learning is recommended. Educators have been challenged to design online programmes that facilitate development of clinical and social skills. Understanding medical students' experiences and identifying unmet needs will help improve clerkship curriculum and support medical students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

An innovative, blended, and supplementary clerkship to minimize clinical training gaps identified during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: 1. To identify training gaps in junior clerkship rotations during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2. To develop a Clinical Transition Selective Clerkship (CTSC) during Year 4. 3. To seek student feedback on organization and management of the CTSC. Design and Methods: An online cross-sectional survey of medical students was conducted during June-September 2021 to identify training gaps. In response to identified gaps, the 4-week CTSC was developed to provide further opportunities to develop core competencies. Result(s): Just under half of students reported the opportunity to observe (45.7%) and perform (44.5%) core skills >3 times during the medicine junior clerkship. For the surgical clerkship, 48.3% observed and 44.2% performed core skills 1-3 times. For child health, 39.6% observed and 34.8% performed skills 1-3 times. More than half of respondents (55.3%) expressed concern that they missed the usual clinical clerkship training experiences during online rotations. Three-quarters (74.5%) expressed the need to acquire additional clinical experience. The majority of students rated the following aspects of the CTSC as 'Good' or better: clarity of goals and objectives (58.3%);educational value/amount learned (56.2%);professionalism of faculty (66.7%) and other clinical staff (75%);usefulness of feedback (75%);workload challenge/level of material appropriate (70.8%);overall rating/quality of CTS (60.4%). However, the following aspects were rated as 'Poor' or "Fair": organization and coherency (77.1%);commitment of coordinators (64.6%);CTS achieved stated goals (62.5%). Conclusion(s): Our study identified training gaps in junior clerkship rotations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CTSC provided opportunities to develop clinical competencies disrupted by the pandemic.

Resilient Coping is More Important than Previous Experience with Virtual Learning: Predicting Stress Experienced by Pharmacy Students in Trinidad and Tobago During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: To summarize pharmacy students' previous experience and current confidence with online learning and explore the association of prior experience with online learning and resilient coping with perceived stress at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method(s): Students completed an online cross-sectional survey during April-June, 2020. Measures included Likert items for experience and current comfort levels with online learning;the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS);and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 Item Version (PSS-10). We summarized experience and comfort with online learning;reported scores and internal consistency for the BRCS and PSS-10;and estimated a regression model of perceived stress as a function of prior experience with online education, gender, and resilient coping. Result(s): Of 113 respondents (response rate 41%, 78% female, mean age 22.3 years) >50% had only occasional prior experience with online learning, coursework, and examinations, but 63% expressed confidence with online learning. Mean PSS-10 and BRCS scores were 23.8 and 13.3 respectively, and both scales demonstrated good internal consistency (a > .80). BRCS score was the single predictor of PSS-10 score (r2 = 0.18, p < 0.001). Gender was not a significant predictor of perceived stress (p = 0.11). A simultaneous regression model explained a moderate amount of variation in perceived stress (adjusted R2 = 0.19). Conclusion(s): Most students had limited previous online learning, coursework, and examination experience. Responses indicated moderate levels of stress and coping skills after introducing online teaching. Lower resiliency scores, but not lack of virtual learning experience, predicted higher perceived stress. Results underscore the importance of efforts to enhance coping and resilience of students.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) related adverse skin reactions among healthcare professionals at the main COVID-19 isolation centre in Barbados

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of PPE-related adverse skin reactions among HCWs working at Harrison's Point, the main COVID-19 isolation centre in Barbados. Design and Methods: A cross-sectional web-based online survey among HCWs was carried out from 1 April 2021 to 21 June 2021. The questionnaire recorded self-reported demographic information, details of PPE use, and adverse skin reactions including severity and duration of onset of symptoms. Result(s): The majority of the respondents were females (71.2%) and the nurses represented the largest group (45.2%) of HCWs. Most of the respondents used PPE for consecutive days (77.9%), 1-6 hours/day (59.2%), and more than a year (62.5%). More than 45% (n = 47) of participants experienced adverse skin reactions from the use of PPE. The adverse skin reactions were mostly observed in the cheeks (40.4%) and nose bridges (35.6%). Females had more reactions than their male counterparts (p = 0.003). The use of N95 masks and a combination of surgical and N95 masks at no discernable consistency produced adverse effects predominantly in the ears (60%) and cheeks (56.4%) respectively. Only 40.4% of study respondents reported that they attended PPE fit testing. Conclusion(s): The PPE-related skin reactions were common among HCWs which mainly occurred due to prolonged and inappropriate use. Cheeks and nasal bridges were the most affected areas and female HCWs were more susceptible to adverse effects than males. Preventive measures inclusive of appropriate training of HCWs on the use of PPE are recommended to minimize these adverse events.

Perception, Working Experience and Psychiatric Morbidity among Information Technology Professionals during COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-sectional Survey

Introduction: In the year 2020, the functioning of the world changed in a big way. For a large part of the year, the world stayed locked indoor, due to the novel Coronavirus Disease -2019 (COVID-19). The need for Information Technology (IT) has reached a new height, and this is certain to persist. Though the IT professionals were mostly working indoors in 'work from home' mode, work pressure and boredom increased according to few studies. Work from home also has different set of employees' expectations and organisational responsibilities. Aim(s): To assess the psychiatric morbidity working experience and related perspectives of the new normal, as perceived by IT professionals. Material(s) and Method(s): This cross-sectional survey was conducted in Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGME&R), Kolkata, West Bengal, India, between May 2020 and August 2020. A Google form-based survey was done which aimed to reach throughout the country. Consent was included as the first question of the form. An ethical clearance was taken from Institutional Ethical Committee of IPGME&R, Kolkata in convenience sampling of IT professionals. For the survey, a semistructured questionnaire was developed and Brief Resilience Coping Scale (BRCS), Ten Items Personality Inventory (TIPI), and K6 psychiatric morbidity screener were used to measure the psychiatric morbidity. Snow ball sampling methods was used to get the sample through free sharing of google forms over the internet. Relevant statistical tests were used to analyse the data, where p<0.05 had been considered significant. Result(s): Total 72 IT professionals responded to the survey but only 71 were included due lack of informed consent. About 20 (28.2%) showed a high risk of losing their job as per their perception and 35 (49.29%) were highly worried about having COVID-19, while 44 (61.9%) were highly worried about bringing the infection home. 78.9% (n=71) showed screener positive psychiatric morbidity. Psychiatric morbidity was only dependent on "emotional stability" as a personality trait and "risk of Job loss" by regression analysis. Total 67 people were working from home, 37 (55.22%) felt the family time had increased, 28 (41.79%) felt family was happier due to work from home. Conclusion(s): This study showed the psychiatric morbidity of IT professionals was quite high and it was not related to their resilience level and own perception of morbidity. Psychiatric morbidity was determined by emotional stability, and the threat of losing jobs. It also shed light on disease perception and state of work perception of IT professionals. Though work from home mode may compromise the work quality slightly but it was good for the families and personal stress levels of the employees. Copyright © 2022 Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. All rights reserved.

A Deep Learning Model for Classification of COVID-19 Related Fake News

The health crisis caused by COVID-19 throws the whole world into the biggest emergency of the century. Moreover, the pandemic has become awful because of the spread of inadequate and fake news or information among common people. Fake news, gossip and misleading information are on the rise due to the popularity of web-based information sources among people, such as social media, news feeds, online blogs and e-news articles. Monitoring and identifying such fake stories is a prerequisite to cease unwanted panic in this pandemic. But carrying out this task manually is challenging and labour intensive. Computer-assisted pattern recognition can now be used to replace human contact thanks to developments in machine learning, deep learning models and natural language processing. This is also essential for accurately distinguishing between true and false information automatically. A hybrid deep learning classification model has been proposed here to identify and classify the fake news and misleading information on the ‘COVID-19 Fake News Dataset’ (taken from Mendeley) which is a collection of news or web article related to COVID-19. The proposed classification model has achieved an accuracy of 75.34% and outperforms the existing LSTM and BiLSTM techniques. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

An Investigation due to the Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the FMCG Supply Chain of Bangladesh

COVID-19 pandemic has created a severe impact on all aspects of life over the last two years. Bangladesh, a third-world developing country, also had to face the consequences of the pandemic. As time passed, people from all lines of works had to find their ways to survive in this situation. This study focuses on the impact on Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries of Bangladesh due to the 2019-ncov (Novel Coronavirus 2019) and highlights the adaptation of these FMCG Supply Chains to the "new normal". Our study indicates that the FMCG sector has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to several difficulties. To overcome these problems, industry leaders have taken several initiatives prioritizing workers' health, keeping customer demand in mind. In addition, the Government also launched long-term loan schemes to help the industries fight back the situation. To accomplish this research, secondary data analysis based on previous articles, documents, news articles, various company annual reports and researches in the relevant field has been reviewed and analyzed. © 2022 ACM.

Attention-based bidirectional LSTM with embedding technique for classification of COVID-19 articles

The epidemic of COVID-19 has thrown the planet into an awfully tricky situation putting a terrifying end to thousands of lives;the global health infrastructure continues to be in significant danger. Several machine learning techniques and pre-defined models have been demonstrated to accomplish the classification of COVID-19 articles. These delineate strategies to extract information from structured and unstructured data sources which form the article repository for physicians and researchers. Expanding the knowledge of diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 virus is the key benefit of these researches. A multi-label Deep Learning classification model has been proposed here on the LitCovid dataset which is a collection of research articles on coronavirus. Relevant prior articles are explored to select appropriate network parameters that could promote the achievement of a stable Artificial Neural Network mechanism for COVID-19 virus-related challenges. We have noticed that the proposed classification model achieves accuracy and micro-F1 score of 75.95% and 85.2, respectively. The experimental result also indicates that the propound technique outperforms the surviving methods like BioBERT and Longformer.

Psychophysiological effects of yoga on stress management among medical and allied health professional students during COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has raised health concerns worldwide. Medical and allied health professional schools are seeking ways to alleviate stress and improve the quality of life among students. The effects of yoga have proven to be successful against stress. The review aimed to examine the psychophysiological effects of yoga on stress management among medical and allied health professional students during COVID-19 pandemic. The authors reviewed existing literature and official documents, which mostly focussed on the effect of yoga among medical and health professional students. Mental stress among these students is known to be higher than that of the general population. Sudden changes due to the pandemic are likely to have a significant impact on these students. Uncertainties concerning teaching, learning and assessment generate stress and anxiety, and social distancing further contributes to loneliness. Yoga has gained recognition not only in improving mental health and quality of life, but it also helps in improving respiratory and immune health. Although many published studies examined the psychophysiological effects of yoga among health professional students;only a few medical and allied health professional schools have incorporated yoga into an integrated curriculum for a holistic approach. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the use of yoga for stress reduction and immune modulation should be considered as a complement to other treatments. There is a need to integrate yoga into medical and health science curricula to prepare physically fit and mentally sound prospective healthcare professionals.

The right side of COVID, right heart hemodynamic changes in the setting of COVID-19: An observational study

Rationale: Covid-19 infection is most commonly associated with respiratory symptoms, the most serious being acute hypoxic respiratory failure, often requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation with an elevation in inflammatory markers often seen. Of note are also the observed elevations in D-dimer which correlated with disease severity and mortality. It has also has been theorized that microthrombi may play a role in the dysfunction of the respiratory system which may correspond with the elevation of D-dimer. We decided to observe the relationship between D-dimer on presentation and changes in right heart function and hemodynamics as measured by right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP). Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 21 patients who had D-dimer measured on arrival to the hospital and also had transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) done during the course of their hospital stay. RVSP was calculated on each of the 21 patients. Results: In our sample of 21 patients, there was a statistically significant association between D-dimer levels and RVSP. Conclusions: Based on our results, there is evidence that elevated D-dimer levels in patients infected with Covid-19 are associated with elevated RVSP. This raises the question as to whether or not there would be benefit in treatment (i.e. therapeutic anticoagulation) to try and prevent right ventricular dysfunction in patients with Covid-19;this question would require further research to fully answer.

Designing efficient contact tracing through risk-based quarantining

Contact tracing for COVID-19 is especially challenging because transmission often occurs in the absence of symptoms and because a purported 20% of cases cause 80% of infections, resulting in a small risk of infection for some contacts and a high risk for others. Here, we introduce riskbased quarantine, a system for contact tracing where each cluster (a group of individuals with a common source of exposure) is observed for symptoms when tracing begins, and clusters that do not display them are released from quarantine. We show that, under our assumptions, risk-based quarantine reduces the amount of quarantine time served by more than 30%, while achieving a reduction in transmission similar to standard contact tracing policies where all contacts are quarantined for two weeks. We compare our proposed risk-based quarantine approach against test-driven release policies, which fail to achieve a comparable level of transmission reduction due to the inability of tests to detect exposed people who are not yet infectious but will eventually become so. Additionally, test-based release policies are expensive, limiting their effectiveness in low-resource environments, whereas the costs imposed by risk-based quarantine are primarily in terms of labor and organization.