The Impact of Virtual Reality Exposure on Stress Level and Sense of Competence in Ambulance Workers.

Virtual reality (VR) exposure is used in clinical psychology to treat anxiety disorders. It is also used to enhance resilience in soldiers by allowing them to confront virtual combat environments to help fortify them against the negative consequences of trauma exposure. Most VR studies have focused on military and emergency medical staff; however, thus far, none have investigated VR in ambulance workers (AWs), who are confronted with traumatic situations daily. The current study aimed to assess the impact of a single VR exposure session on self-perceived competence and stress level in a sample of AWs. Participants (N = 40) were randomly assigned to either a VR immersion (i.e., experimental group, n = 20) or an audio immersion (i.e., control group, n = 20) of a shooting attack situation. We hypothesized that compared to controls, VR participants would report decreased anxiety, as measured using visual analog scales, as well as an increased sense of competence. The results showed a significant reduction in fear in both groups, d = 0.33, and an increased sense of competence in VR participants, d = 0.35. Although our hypotheses were only partially confirmed, the observed beneficial effects of VR and the audio immersion on stress levels in AWs suggest that VR exposure could be a useful way to increase resilience in AWs.

Comparing the transcriptome of developing native and iPSC-derived mouse retinae by single cell RNA sequencing.

We report the generation and analysis of single-cell RNA-Seq data (> 38,000 cells) from mouse native retinae and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived retinal organoids at four matched stages of development spanning the emergence of the major retinal cell types. We combine information from temporal sampling, visualization of 3D UMAP manifolds, pseudo-time and RNA velocity analyses, to show that iPSC-derived 3D retinal organoids broadly recapitulate the native developmental trajectories. However, we observe relaxation of spatial and temporal transcriptome control, premature emergence and dominance of photoreceptor precursor cells, and susceptibility of dynamically regulated pathways and transcription factors to culture conditions in retinal organoids. We demonstrate that genes causing human retinopathies are enriched in cell-type specifying genes and identify a subset of disease-causing genes with expression profiles that are highly conserved between human retinae and murine retinal organoids. This study provides a resource to the community that will be useful to assess and further improve protocols for ex vivo recapitulation and study of retinal development.

Covid-19: contribution of clinical characteristics and laboratory features for early detection of patients with high risk of severe evolution.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify early clinical and laboratory predictive factors of a severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in our hospital. Diagnosis was based on a positive real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on nasopharyngeal samples. The cohort was divided into two groups, i.e. a favorable evolution (FE) group and an unfavorable evolution (UFE) group, including intensive care unit (ICU) and deceased patients.Results: A total of 198 patients were enrolled in the study, with 138 FE (70%) and 60 UFE (30%). Older age, male gender, comorbidities and dyspnea at admission constituted significantly worse prognosis factors. Among laboratory features, lymphocyte and platelet counts as well as corrected glomerular filtration rate were significantly lower in UFE patients, while neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, inflammation biomarkers, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glycemia and D-dimer were significantly higher. Procalcitonin and LDH appeared as the most accurate variables according to receiver operating characteristic curves. CONCLUSIONS: This Belgian study revealed clinical and laboratory features able to predict high risk of ICU requirement, or even death, at admission time. These results provide a potential tool for patient's triage in a context of pandemic.Abbreviations: COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome; DIC: disseminated intravascular coagulopathy; MOF: multi-organ failure; RT-PCR: real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction; UFE: unfavorable evolution; ICU: intensive care unit; EDTA: ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid; WBC: white blood cell count; Hb: hemoglobin level; PCT: procalcitonin; Na: sodium; K: potassium; PT: total protein, CRP: c-reactive protein; Cr: creatinine; ALAT: alanine aminotransferase; ALAT: aspartate aminotransferase; TB: total bilirubin, LDH: lactate dehydrogenase, FERR: ferritin; hs-Tnt: high sensitive-troponin T; cGFR: corrected glomerular filtration rate; QR: quick ratio; DDIM: D-dimer; FIB: fibrinogen; SD: standard deviation; IQR: interquartile ranges; ROC: receiver operating characteristics; ECMO: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; NLR: neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; AUC: area under the curve; BMI: body mass index.