Possible Transmission Flow of SARS-CoV-2 Based on ACE2 Features
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cellular receptor for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is engendering the severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 binds to the three sub-domains viz. amino acids (aa) 22&ndash
Possible transmission flow of SARS-CoV-2 based on ACE2 features
AbstractAngiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the cellular receptor for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is engendering the severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The spike (S) protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 binds to the three sub-domains viz. amino acids (aa) 22-42, aa 79-84, and aa 330-393 of ACE2 on human cells to initiate entry. It was reported earlier that the receptor utilization capacity of ACE2 proteins from different species, such as cats, chimpanzees, dogs, and cattle, are different. A comprehensive analysis of ACE2 receptors of nineteen species was carried out in this study, and the findings propose a pos…
A unique view of SARS-CoV-2 through the lens of ORF8 protein
Immune evasion is one of the unique characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) attributed to its ORF8 protein. This protein modulates the adaptive host immunity through down-regulation of MHC-1 (Major Histocompatibility Complex) molecules and innate immune responses by surpassing the host's interferon-mediated antiviral response. To understand the host's immune perspective concerning the ORF8 protein, a comprehensive study of the ORF8 protein and mutations possessed by it have been performed. Chemical and structural properties of ORF8 proteins from different hosts, such as human, bat, and pangolin, suggest that the ORF8 of SARS-CoV-2 is much closer to OR…
Supplemental_material - The effect of climate on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic: A review of findings, and statistical and modelling techniques
Supplemental_material for The effect of climate on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic: A review of findings, and statistical and modelling techniques by Álvaro Briz-Redón and Ángel Serrano-Aroca in Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment
Clinical utility of novel biosensing platform: Diagnosis of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 at point of care
Early detection is the first step in the fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Therefore, an efficient, rapid, selective, specific, and inexpensive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic method is the need of the hour. The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technology is massively utilized to detect infection with SARS-CoV-2. However, scientists continue to strive to create enhanced technology while continually developing nanomaterial-enabled biosensing methods that can provide new methodologies, potentially fulfilling the present demand for rapid and early identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Our review presents a summar…
Estudio Cualitativo de los Conocimientos de los Estudiantes españoles de Educación Secundaria sobre Polímeros
Dada la importancia de los materiales poliméricos en la actualidad y los escasos estudios de las ideas de los estudiantes de secundaria sobre ellos, se lleva a cabo un estudio que pretende aproximarse al conocimiento de los estudiantes españoles de educación secundaria sobre estos materiales. Se ha empleado una metodología cualitativa, basada en entrevistas semi-estructuradas. Han participado 8 estudiantes de educación secundaria obligatoria (10º grado, 16 años) y 4 estudiantes de bachillerato (12º grado, 18 años). Los resultados revelan que: a) el nivel de conocimientos sobre polímeros de los estudiantes de educación secundaria obligatoria es bajo, esto es, no es el que corresponde a un ci…
Fourth‐generation glucose sensors composed of copper nanostructures for diabetes management: A critical review
Abstract More than five decades have been invested in understanding glucose biosensors. Yet, this immensely versatile field has continued to gain attention from the scientific world to better understand and diagnose diabetes. However, such extensive work done to improve glucose sensing devices has still not yielded desirable results. Drawbacks like the necessity of the invasive finger‐pricking step and the lack of optimization of diagnostic interventions still need to be considered to improve the testing process of diabetic patients. To upgrade the glucose‐sensing devices and reduce the number of intermediary steps during glucose measurement, fourth‐generation glucose sensors (FGGS) have be…
A city-level analysis of air pollution, climate and COVID-19 early spread during the Spanish lockdown
AbstractThe COVID-19 outbreak has escalated into the worse pandemic of the present century. The fast spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has caused devastating health and economic crises all over the world, with Spain being one of the worst affected countries in terms of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths per inhabitant. In this situation, the Spanish Government declared the lockdown of the country. The variations of air pollution in terms of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels in seven cities of Spain are analyzed here considering the effect of meteorology during the national lockdown. The possible associations of PM2.5pollution and climate with COVID-19 accumulated cases were als…
Variability of Accessory Proteins Rules the SARS-CoV-2 Pathogenicity
AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is pandemic with an estimated fatality rate less than 1% is ongoing. SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins ORF3a, ORF6, ORF7a, ORF7b, ORF8, and ORF10 with putative functions to manipulate host immune mechanisms such as interferons, immune signaling receptor NLRP3 (NOD-, LRR-, and pyrin domain-containing 3) inflammasome, inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1β(IL-1β) are critical in COVID-19 pathology. Outspread variations of each of the six accessory proteins of all complete proteomes (available as of October 26, 2020, in the National Center for Biotechnology Inf…
Overview of key molecular and pharmacological targets for diabetes and associated diseases
Diabetes epidemiological quantities are demonstrating one of the most important communities' health worries. The essential diabetic difficulties are including cardiomyopathy, nephropathy, inflammation, and retinopathy. Despite developments in glucose decreasing treatments and drugs, these diabetic complications are still ineffectively reversed or prohibited. Several signaling and molecular pathways are vital targets in the new therapies of diabetes. This review assesses the newest researches about the key molecules and signaling pathways as targets of molecular pharmacology in diabetes and diseases related to it for better treatment based on molecular sciences. The disease is not cured by c…
Changes in air pollution during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain: a multi-city study
Highlights • Variations in air quality in terms of CO, SO2, PM10, O3 and NO2 levels were studied • The lockdown of Spain was not able to reduce severe air pollution in all its forms • Significant reductions of NO2 levels were achieved in most cities • Increases of O3 pollution levels were found in several cities
<em>Saccharomyces boulardii</em>: probiotic yeast for craft beer production, growth analysis and biovolume estimation
In recent years, an increase in the consumer interest has been observed for craft beers, which are unpasteurized and unfiltered. Thus, the use of probiotic starters remaining in the craft beers could significantly increase health benefits. Here, the first study on the use of the probiotic Sacharomyces boulardii (Sb) yeast as single starter for craft brewing at 20 L scale is presented. The probiotic biomass growth was studied in bioreactor batch culture and modelled by the logistic and Gompertz equations. Finally, the probiotic biovolume of Sb was estimated from microscopy images. All these experiments were compared with those obtained with a commercial Sacharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) yeast str…
The effect of climate on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic: A review of findings, and statistical and modelling techniques
The new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has spread rapidly around the world since it was first reported in humans in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 after being contracted from a zoonotic source. This new virus produces the so-called coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19. Although several studies have supported the epidemiological hypothesis that weather patterns may affect the survival and spread of droplet-mediated viral diseases, the most recent have concluded that summer weather may offer partial or no relief of the COVID-19 pandemic to some regions of the world. Some of these studies have considered only meteorological variables, while others have included non-meteorological factors. The statistical and…
Novel pedagogical tool for simultaneous learning of plane geometry and R programming
Programming a computer is an activity that can be very beneficial to undergraduate students in terms of improving their mental capabilities, collaborative attitudes and levels of engagement in learning. Despite the initial difficulties that typically arise when learning to program, there are several well-known strategies to overcome them, providing a very high benefit-cost ratio to most of the students. Moreover, the use of a programming language usually raises the interest of students to learn any specific concept, which has caused that many teachers around the world employ a programming language as a learning environment to treat almost every possible topic. Particularly, mathematics can …