Plos One
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In Bangladesh, an array of measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. Such general population control measures could significantly influence perception, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. Here, we assessed KAP towards COVID-19 immediately after the lock-down measures were implemented and during the rapid rise period of the outbreak. ⋯ More frequent prevention practice factors were associated with female sex, older age, higher education, family income > 30,000 BDT, urban area residence, and having more positive attitudes. To improve KAP of general populations is crucial during the rapid rise period of a pandemic outbreak such as COVID-19. Therefore, development of effective health education programs that incorporate considerations of KAP-modifying factors is needed.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Prospective, comparative evaluation of a deep neural network and dermoscopy in the diagnosis of onychomycosis.
Onychomycosis is the most common nail disorder and is associated with diagnostic challenges. Emerging non-invasive, real-time techniques such as dermoscopy and deep convolutional neural networks have been proposed for the diagnosis of this condition. However, comparative studies of the two tools in the diagnosis of onychomycosis have not previously been conducted. ⋯ As a standalone method, the algorithm analyzed photographs taken by non-physician and showed comparable accuracy for the diagnosis of onychomycosis to that made by experienced dermatologists and by dermoscopic examination. Large sample size and world-wide, multicentered studies should be investigated to prove the performance of the algorithm.
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The extent to which people implement government-issued protective measures is critical in preventing further spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Our study aimed to describe the public belief in the effectiveness of protective measures, the reported implementation of these measures, and to identify communication channels used to acquire information on COVID-19 in European countries during the early stage of the pandemic. ⋯ During the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, belief in the effectiveness of protective measures among survey respondents from three European countries was high and participants reported feeling sufficiently informed. In March 2020, implementation of measures differed between countries and were highest among respondents from Italy, who were subjected to the most stringent lockdown measures and greatest COVID-19 burden in Europe during this period.
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Automated approaches to improve the efficiency of systematic reviews are greatly needed. When testing any of these approaches, the criterion standard of comparison (gold standard) is usually human reviewers. Yet, human reviewers make errors in inclusion and exclusion of references. ⋯ This study suggests important false inclusion and exclusion rates by human reviewers. When deciding the validity of a future automated study selection algorithm, it is important to keep in mind that the gold standard is not perfect and that achieving error rates similar to humans may be adequate and can save resources and time.
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Cobalt ion interaction with TMEM16A calcium-activated chloride channel: Inhibition and potentiation.
TMEM16A, a Ca2+-sensitive Cl- channel, plays key roles in many physiological functions related to Cl- transport across lipid membranes. Activation of this channel is mediated via binding intracellular Ca2+ to the channel with a relatively high apparent affinity, roughly in the sub-μM to low μM concentration range. Recently available high-resolution structures of TMEM16 molecules reveal that the high-affinity Ca2+ activation sites are formed by several acidic amino acids, using their negatively charged sidechain carboxylates to coordinate the bound Ca2+. ⋯ Interestingly, mutating a pore residue of TMEM16A, Y589, alters the degree of potentiation in that the smaller the sidechain of the replaced residue, the larger the potentiation induced by divalent cations. We suggest that the Co2+ potentiation and the Ca2+ potentiation share a similar mechanism by increasing Cl- flux through the channel pore, perhaps due to an increase of positive pore potential after the binding of divalent cations to phospholipids in the pore. A smaller sidechain of a pore residue may allow the pore to accommodate more phospholipids, thus enhancing the current potentiation caused by high concentrations of divalent cations.