Reporting delays: A widely neglected impact factor in COVID-19 forecasts.

Epidemic forecasts are only as good as the accuracy of epidemic measurements. Is epidemic data, particularly COVID-19 epidemic data, clean, and devoid of noise? The complexity and variability inherent in data collection and reporting suggest otherwise. While we cannot evaluate the integrity of the COVID-19 epidemic data in a holistic fashion, we can assess the data for the presence of reporting delays. In our work, through the analysis of the first COVID-19 wave, we find substantial reporting delays in the published epidemic data. Motivated by the desire to enhance epidemic forecasts, we develop a statistical framework to detect, uncover, and remove reporting delays in the infectious, recovered, and deceased epidemic time series. Using our framework, we expose and analyze reporting delays in eight regions significantly affected by the first COVID-19 wave. Further, we demonstrate that removing reporting delays from epidemic data by using our statistical framework may decrease the error in epidemic forecasts. While our statistical framework can be used in combination with any epidemic forecast method that intakes infectious, recovered, and deceased data, to make a basic assessment, we employed the classical SIRD epidemic model. Our results indicate that the removal of reporting delays from the epidemic data may decrease the forecast error by up to 50%. We anticipate that our framework will be indispensable in the analysis of novel COVID-19 strains and other existing or novel infectious diseases.

FDA Approval Summary: Margetuximab plus Chemotherapy for Advanced or Metastatic HER2-Positive Breast Cancer.

On December 16, 2020, the FDA granted regular approval to margetuximab-cmkb (MARGENZA), in combination with chemotherapy, for the treatment of adult patients with HER2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer who have received two or more prior anti-HER2 regimens, at least one of which was for metastatic disease. Approval was based on data from SOPHIA, a multicenter, randomized, open-label, active controlled study comparing margetuximab with trastuzumab, in combination with chemotherapy. The primary efficacy endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) by blinded independent central review. SOPHIA demonstrated a 0.9-month difference in median PFS between the two treatment arms [5.8 vs. 4.9 months, respectively; stratified HR, 0.76 (95% confidence interval: 0.59-0.98; P = 0.0334)]. Overall survival (OS) was immature at the data cut-off date of September 10, 2019. Infusion-related reactions (IRR) are an important safety signal associated with margetuximab plus chemotherapy. In SOPHIA, 13% of patients treated with margetuximab plus chemotherapy reported IRRs, of which 1.5% were grade 3. The most commonly reported adverse drug reactions (>10%) with margetuximab in combination with chemotherapy were fatigue/asthenia, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, headache, pyrexia, alopecia, abdominal pain, peripheral neuropathy, arthralgia/myalgia, cough, decreased appetite, dyspnea, IRR, palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia, and extremity pain. Overall, the favorable risk-benefit profile for margetuximab when added to chemotherapy supported its approval for the intended indication.

The Growth, Apoptosis and Oxidative Stress in Microcystis viridis Exposed to Glyphosate.

This study investigated the growth, apoptosis and oxidative stress of the cyanobacterium Microcystis viridis exposed to glyphosate. Results showed that growth parameters, namely, cell destiny, chlorophyll a content, and protein content, were affected by glyphosate. The viability of the treated cells was monitored to further investigate the toxicity of glyphosate on M. viridis. After 24 and 48 h of exposure, glyphosate enhanced superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration. The decrease in the MDA concentration might be caused by the enhanced SOD activity. This study helped elucidate the toxic effects of glyphosate on cyanobacteria and contributed to environmental assessment and protection.

Physiological effects of the herbicide glyphosate on the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa.

Glyphosate has been used extensively for weed control in agriculture in many countries. However, glyphosate can be transported into the aquatic environment and might cause adverse effects on aquatic life. This study investigated the physiological characteristics of cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) after exposure to glyphosate, and the results showed that changes in cell density production, chlorophyll a and protein content are consistent. In M. aeruginosa, oxidative stress caused by glyphosate indicated that 48h of exposure increased the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and enhanced the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD). To further investigate the toxicity of glyphosate on M. aeruginosa, the viability of treated cells was monitored and the toxin release was determined. The results indicated that glyphosate induced apoptosis of and triggered toxin release in M. aeruginosa. These results are helpful for understanding the toxic effects of glyphosate on cyanobacteria, which is important for environmental assessment and protection. These results are also useful for guidance on the application of this type of herbicide in agricultural settings.