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Drug Discovery Today May 2020In the past decade we have seen two major Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa, the Zika virus in Brazil and the Americas and the current pandemic of coronavirus disease... (Review)
Review
In the past decade we have seen two major Ebola virus outbreaks in Africa, the Zika virus in Brazil and the Americas and the current pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There is a strong sense of déjà vu because there are still no effective treatments. In the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being a new virus, there are already drugs suggested as active in in vitro assays that are being repurposed in clinical trials. Promising SARS-CoV-2 viral targets and computational approaches are described and discussed. Here, we propose, based on open antiviral drug discovery approaches for previous outbreaks, that there could still be gaps in our approach to drug discovery.
Topics: Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Betacoronavirus; COVID-19; Chlorocebus aethiops; Computer Simulation; Coronavirus Infections; Drug Discovery; Drug Repositioning; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; Molecular Docking Simulation; Pandemics; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; Pneumonia, Viral; Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; Vero Cells; Zika Virus Infection; COVID-19 Drug Treatment
PubMed: 32320852
DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2020.03.019 -
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences Nov 2023I strongly support Barzykowski and Moulin in their proposal that common retrieval mechanisms can lead to distinct phenomenological memory experiences. I emphasize the...
I strongly support Barzykowski and Moulin in their proposal that common retrieval mechanisms can lead to distinct phenomenological memory experiences. I emphasize the importance of one of these mechanisms, namely the attribution system. Neuropsychological studies should help clarifying the role of these retrieval mechanisms, notably in cases of medial temporal-lobe lesions and cases of dementia.
Topics: Humans; Memory, Episodic
PubMed: 37961781
DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X23000249 -
ASPHER Statement: Déjà vu? Planning for the Covid-19 Third Wave and Planning for the Winter 2021-22.International Journal of Public Health 2021
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Seasons
PubMed: 34497482
DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2021.1604361 -
Annals of Internal Medicine Jun 2021Klompas and colleagues report an investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 cluster in an acute care hospital with transmission between patients and staff. The editorialists remind...
Klompas and colleagues report an investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 cluster in an acute care hospital with transmission between patients and staff. The editorialists remind us of the need to reinforce and reeducate to improve practice of and adherence to important strategies that protect the entire health care ecosystem.
Topics: COVID-19; Delivery of Health Care; Hospitals; Humans; SARS-CoV-2
PubMed: 33556269
DOI: 10.7326/M21-0526 -
Nature Reviews. Neuroscience Aug 2008Epilepsy is a complex set of disorders that can involve many areas of the cortex, as well as underlying deep-brain systems. The myriad manifestations of seizures, which... (Review)
Review
Epilepsy is a complex set of disorders that can involve many areas of the cortex, as well as underlying deep-brain systems. The myriad manifestations of seizures, which can be as varied as déjà vu and olfactory hallucination, can therefore give researchers insights into regional functions and relations. Epilepsy is also complex genetically and pathophysiologically: it involves microscopic (on the scale of ion channels and synaptic proteins), macroscopic (on the scale of brain trauma and rewiring) and intermediate changes in a complex interplay of causality. It has long been recognized that computer modelling will be required to disentangle causality, to better understand seizure spread and to understand and eventually predict treatment efficacy. Over the past few years, substantial progress has been made in modelling epilepsy at levels ranging from the molecular to the socioeconomic. We review these efforts and connect them to the medical goals of understanding and treating the disorder.
Topics: Animals; Brain; Cerebral Cortex; Computer Simulation; Epilepsy; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Humans; Markov Chains; Models, Neurological; Predictive Value of Tests; Seizures
PubMed: 18594562
DOI: 10.1038/nrn2416 -
Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons... Mar 2008
Topics: Humans; Laparoscopy; Surgical Instruments; Sutures; Umbilicus
PubMed: 18325229
DOI: 10.1308/003588408X261807 -
Heliyon Apr 2022Examination of the mortality patterns in the United States among racial, ethnic, and age groups attributed to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic revealed stark disparities,...
BACKGROUND
Examination of the mortality patterns in the United States among racial, ethnic, and age groups attributed to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic revealed stark disparities, causes for which could have been addressed and rectified this past century. However, these disparities have been amplified during the current COVID-19 pandemic.We have ignored the lessons of the past, and were destined to repeat its failings.
OBJECTIVES
Compare and contrast mortality patterns by age, race, and ethnicity attributable to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic in the United States with corresponding patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS
This is a retrospective study, establishing mortality rates according to age, race and ethnicity attributable to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic in the United States and to the current COVID-19 pandemic, using mortality data published by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Negative binomial regression models were used to establish rate ratios, that is, ratios of mortality rates across the various racial/ethnic groups, and associated 95% confidence intervals.
RESULTS
Mortality patterns by age differ significantly between the 1918-19 influenza pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic: with infant and young adult (25-40 years old) mortality substantially higher in the former. Disparities in mortality between racial and ethnic groups are amplified in the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the 1918-19 experience.
CONCLUSIONS
As we evaluate our nation's response to COVID-19 and design public policy to prepare better for coming pandemics, we cannot ignore the stark disparities in mortality rates experienced by different racial and ethnic groups. This will require a sustained resolve by society and government to delineate and remedy the causative factors, through science devoid of political interpretation and exploitation.
PubMed: 35464697
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09299 -
Empirical Software Engineering 2022The paper introduces a fundamental technological problem with collecting high-speed eye tracking data while studying software engineering tasks in an integrated...
Deja Vu: semantics-aware recording and replay of high-speed eye tracking and interaction data to support cognitive studies of software engineering tasks-methodology and analyses.
The paper introduces a fundamental technological problem with collecting high-speed eye tracking data while studying software engineering tasks in an integrated development environment. The use of eye trackers is quickly becoming an important means to study software developers and how they comprehend source code and locate bugs. High quality eye trackers can record upwards of 120 to 300 gaze points per second. However, it is not always possible to map each of these points to a line and column position in a source code file (in the presence of scrolling and file switching) in real time at data rates over 60 gaze points per second without data loss. Unfortunately, higher data rates are more desirable as they allow for finer granularity and more accurate study analyses. To alleviate this technological problem, a novel method for eye tracking data collection is presented. Instead of performing gaze analysis in real time, all telemetry (keystrokes, mouse movements, and eye tracker output) data during a study is recorded as it happens. Sessions are then replayed at a much slower speed allowing for ample time to map gaze point positions to the appropriate file, line, and column to perform additional analysis. A description of the method and corresponding tool, Deja Vu, is presented. An evaluation of the method and tool is conducted using three different eye trackers running at four different speeds (60 Hz, 120 Hz, 150 Hz, and 300 Hz). This timing evaluation is performed in Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Atom IDEs. Results show that Deja Vu can playback 100% of the data recordings, correctly mapping the gaze to corresponding elements, making it a well-founded and suitable post processing step for future eye tracking studies in software engineering. Finally, a proof of concept replication analysis of four tasks from two previous studies is performed. Due to using the Deja Vu approach, this replication resulted in richer collected data and improved on the number of distinct syntactic categories that gaze was mapped on in the code.
PubMed: 36159896
DOI: 10.1007/s10664-022-10209-3 -
Translational Psychiatry Oct 2021Cognitive deficits commonly accompany psychiatric disorders but are often underrecognised, and difficult to treat. The 5-HT receptor is a promising potential treatment...
Cognitive deficits commonly accompany psychiatric disorders but are often underrecognised, and difficult to treat. The 5-HT receptor is a promising potential treatment target for cognitive impairment because in animal studies 5-HT receptor agonists enhance hippocampal-dependent memory processes. To date, there has been little work translating these effects to humans. We tested whether short-term administration of the 5-HT partial agonist, prucalopride, modified behavioural and neural (fMRI) memory processing in 44 healthy human volunteers using an experimental medicine model. We found that participants who had received six days of prucalopride treatment were significantly better at recalling previously seen neutral images and distinguishing them from new images. At a neural level, prucalopride bilaterally increased hippocampal activity and activity in the right angular gyrus compared with placebo. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the potential of 5-HT-receptor activation for cognitive enhancement in humans, and support the potential of this receptor as a treatment target for cognitive impairment.
Topics: Benzofurans; Hippocampus; Humans; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT4; Serotonin; Serotonin 5-HT4 Receptor Agonists
PubMed: 34602607
DOI: 10.1038/s41398-021-01568-4 -
New Ideas in Psychology Apr 2023The experiences associated with remembering, including metamemory feelings about the act of remembering and attempts at remembering, are not often integrated into...
The experiences associated with remembering, including metamemory feelings about the act of remembering and attempts at remembering, are not often integrated into general accounts of memory. For example, David Rubin (2022) proposes a unified, three-dimensional conceptual space for mapping memory states, a map that does not systematically specify metamemory feelings. Drawing on Rubin's model, we define a distinct role for metamemory in relation to first-order memory content. We propose a fourth dimension for the model and support the proposal with conceptual, neurocognitive, and clinical lines of reasoning. We use the modified model to illustrate several cases, and show how it helps to conceptualize a new category of memory state: , exemplified by . We also caution not to assume that memory experience is directly correlated with or caused by memory content, an assumption Tulving (1989) labeled the .
PubMed: 38223256
DOI: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100995