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Dennis OConnor

The Prime Cellular Targets for the Novel Coronavirus - NIH Director's Blog - 0 views

directorsblog.nih.gov/...gets-for-the-novel-coronavirus

research covid

shared by Dennis OConnor on 05 May 20 - No Cached
  • Posted on May 5th, 2020 by Dr. Francis Collins
  • it has been remarkable and gratifying to watch researchers from around the world pull together and share their time, expertise, and hard-earned data in the urgent quest to control this devastating virus.
  • a recent study that characterized the specific human cells that SARS-CoV-2 likely singles out for infection [1
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • This work was driven by the mostly shuttered labs of Alex K. Shalek, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge; and Jose Ordovas-Montanes at Boston Children’s Hospital. In the end, it brought together (if only remotely) dozens of their colleagues in the Human Cell Atlas Lung Biological Network and others across the U.S., Europe, and South Africa.
  • The discovery suggests that SARS-CoV-2 and potentially other coronaviruses that rely on ACE2 may take advantage of the immune system’s natural defenses.
  • t’s clear that these new findings, from data that weren’t originally generated with COVID-19 in mind, contained several potentially important new leads. This is another demonstration of the value of basic science.
  • Dennis OConnor on 05 May 20
     
    "Posted on May 5th, 2020 by Dr. Francis Collins"
Dennis OConnor

New WhatsApp chatbot unleashes power of worldwide fact-checking organizations to fight ... - 0 views

www.poynter.org/...abase-of-more-than-4000-hoaxes

factcheck confirmation-bias

shared by Dennis OConnor on 05 May 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 05 May 20
     
    Recommended by Carl Heine, Ph.D. "ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (May 4, 2020) - The Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) today launches a chatbot on WhatsApp to connect its millions of users with the translated work of more than 80 fact-checking organizations worldwide. By using the IFCN's chatbot on WhatsApp, citizens can easily check whether content about COVID-19 has already been rated as false by professional fact-checkers."
Dennis OConnor

Informaconnect: Bioprocessing & Manufacturing - Articles & Video - 1 views

informaconnect.com/...articles

covid research

shared by Dennis OConnor on 04 May 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 04 May 20
     
    To see the Premium articles on Covid-19 research, you'll need to create an account. This is an archive of Informa connect publications. Covid-19 publications are marked premium and require creating an account to access. I created an account and have access to the contents. However, those marked "premium" still require setting up an account. The materials are professionally published and at first, glance seem extensive and credible. They are publishing in an easy to read and dynamic 'reader' format. It is very similar to what we are doing with Rise 360. There are lessons to be learned from this group. A question for PHE/Project Apollo: Do we want to require the public to 'join' our website to see 'premium content' like our upcoming e-learning courses? I feel the way Informaconnect is leveraging the Covid-19 research to build membership is a little crass. On the other hand, the contents are impressive and the sign-up process wasn't onerous.
Dennis OConnor

The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide - 0 views

www.nature.com/...d41586-020-01221-y

covid research data visualization infographic

shared by Dennis OConnor on 02 May 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 02 May 20
     
    "Eight ways in which scientists hope to provide immunity to SARS-CoV-2 ."
Dennis OConnor

The Challenge of Tracking COVID-19's Stealthy Spread - NIH Director's Blog - 0 views

directorsblog.nih.gov/...king-covid-19s-stealthy-spread

covid contact-tracking research

shared by Dennis OConnor on 01 May 20 - No Cached
  • The first thing that testing may help us do is to identify those SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals who have no symptoms, but who are still capable of transmitting the virus.
  • The second way we can use testing is to identify individuals who’ve already been infected with SARS-CoV-2, but who didn’t get seriously ill and can no longer transmit the virus to others.
Dennis OConnor

Webinar May 13, 2020: Wearable Technology: What's The Role In Early Detection? JLABS - 0 views

jlabsdcwearabletechnology.splashthat.com/?toid=9029464&p=37d34d017052c8c2123801619ae03a5a767f966a992340f22956ce33a724732c13fdc23e&guest-access-hash=NDU3NzE4NjQ4fDI5OTk5MjMzMHwxNTg4MzU5MTY2OzFjYTU4MWZlNDdlYWE4MTBhNzJhNzYxOTAwODg0YjczMWVmOWI3N2VlM2RlN2FjMTQxZTJjZDk2Yjc1NjlkODA=

tracking research webinar

shared by Dennis OConnor on 01 May 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 01 May 20
     
    "If wearable devices have the ability to provide continuous sensing capabilities while accurately capturing signals, is there a role that wearable devices play in forecasting illness? What role can wearable technology play in an outbreak response at both the individual level and global level?   Join our panel with industry experts to discuss the potential for innovation in the use of wearable technologies for early detection."
Dennis OConnor

Coronavirus Antibody Tests: Can You Trust the Results? - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...oronavirus-antibody-tests.html

covid antibodies testing

shared by Dennis OConnor on 26 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Of the 14 tests, only three delivered consistently reliable results. Even the best had some flaws.
  • Already Americans are scrambling to take antibody tests to see if they might escape lockdowns. Public health experts are wondering if those with positive results might be allowed to return to work.
  • these tactics mean nothing if the test results can’t be trusted
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • The proportion of people in the United States who have been exposed to the coronavirus is likely to be 5 percent or less, Dr. Hensley said. “If your kit has a 3 percent false-positive, how do you interpret that? It’s basically impossible,” he said. “If your kit has 14 percent false positive, it’s useless.”
  • The duo recruited Dr. Jeffrey Whitman and Dr. Caryn Bern, who last year published an analysis of antibody tests for Chagas disease. Other graduate students and postdoctoral fellows volunteered to help perform the evaluations.
  • In all, the investigators analyzed 10 rapid tests that deliver a yes-no signal for antibodies, and two tests using a lab technique known as Elisa that indicate the amount of antibodies present and are generally considered to be more reliable.
  • The Bay Area team finished evaluating 12 tests in record time, less than a month. By comparison, the Chagas project required a team of three people working for more than a year just to compare four tests.
  • Having a study design already in hand helped speed the work, but there was one key difference. Decades of data have shown that Chagas disease elicits lifelong immunity.
  • Each test was evaluated with the same set of blood samples: from 80 people known to be infected with the coronavirus, at different points after infection; 108 samples donated before the pandemic; and 52 samples from people who were positive for other viral infections but had tested negative for SARS-CoV-2.
  • Tests made by Sure Biotech and Wondfo Biotech, along with an in-house Elisa test, produced the fewest false positives.
  • A test made by Bioperfectus detected antibodies in 100 percent of the infected samples, but only after three weeks of infection.
  • None of the tests did better than 80 percent until that time period, which was longer than expected, Dr. Hsu said.
  • the tests are less likely to produce false negatives the longer ago the initial infection occurred,
  • There are multiple tests that have specificities greater than 95 percent.
  • Dr. Krammer has developed a two-step Elisa test that he said has 100 percent specificity and delivers a measure of the quantity of IgM and IgG antibodies a person has.
  • Scanwell Health, a Los Angeles-based start-up, has ordered millions of test kits from Innovita, a Chinese manufacturer, and has applied to the Food and Drug Administration to market the tests for at-home use.In the new study, the Innovita test detected antibodies in 83 percent of infected people and yielded a false-positive rate of 4 percent.
  • Scanwell Health, said the study looked at an earlier version of Innovita’s test and not the “newer, improved version” his company had ordered. “It will be interesting to see how it performs,”
  • Dennis OConnor on 26 Apr 20
     
    "A team of scientists worked around the clock to evaluate 14 antibody tests. A few worked as advertised. Most did not."
Dennis OConnor

COVID-19 Testing Project - Pre-print manuscript - 0 views

covidtestingproject.org

covid antibodies testing preprint

shared by Dennis OConnor on 26 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • April 24, 2020: Read our pre-print manuscript. This is a preliminary report of work that has not been certified by peer review. This should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
  • Dennis OConnor on 26 Apr 20
     
    "We are a multidisciplinary team of researchers and physicians at UCSF, UC Berkeley, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and Innovative Genomics Institute."
Dennis OConnor

Researchers Cast Doubt On Theory Of Coronavirus Lab Accident : Goats and Soda : NPR - 1 views

www.npr.org/...ry-of-coronavirus-lab-accident

covid research origins-covid-19

shared by Dennis OConnor on 24 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • April 23, 2020
  • Virus researchers say there is virtually no chance that the new coronavirus was released as result of a laboratory accident in China or anywhere else.
  • after corresponding with 10 leading scientists who collect samples of viruses from animals in the wild, study virus genomes and understand how lab accidents can happen, NPR found that an accidental release would have required a remarkable series of coincidences and deviations from well-established experimental protocols.
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • All of the evidence points to this not being a laboratory accident," says Jonna Mazet, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Davis and director of a global project to watch for emerging viruses called PREDICT.
  • all believe that the virus was transmitted between animals and humans in nature, as has happened in previous outbreaks — from Ebola to the Marburg virus — and with other known coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS.
  • Regardless, genetic analysis shows the virus began to spread sometime in the fall or winter of 2019, says Robert Garry, a microbiologist at Tulane University. Those same analyses refuted an earlier theory that the virus was genetically engineered in a laboratory.
  • the exact route from nature to people remains a mystery,
  • Rather than a laboratory misstep, researchers believe that this new coronavirus reached humans in the same way that other coronaviruses have: through "zoonotic spillover," or humans picking up pathogens from wildlife.
  • The CDC estimates that 6 out of 10 infectious diseases in people come from animals, including diseases caused by coronaviruses.
  • "As we change the landscape to suit our purposes, we come more and more into contact with viruses and other pathogens that we don't have much exposure to," says Dr. Brian Bird, associate director of the OneHealth Institute at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and a former CDC scientist.
  • "Zoonotic transmission" or "zoonotic spillover" generally happens three ways: through excretion (feces that comes into contact with humans), slaughter (meat consumed by humans) and vector-borne (an animal biting a human). But even under these circumstances, the virus must then overcome barriers within the human body, defeating the immune system, to successfully replicate and transmit between humans themselves.
  • Despite the evidence, misinformation about the virus's origins continue to proliferate. For Daszak, who has worked on other outbreaks, the pattern is all too familiar: "Every time we get a new virus emerging, we have people that say, 'This could have come from a lab,' " he says.
  • "It's a real shame that the conspiracy theories can get to the level they've got with policymakers,"
  • The political heat has strained the very scientific collaborations meant to detect these viruses as they emerge, warns Jonna Mazet.
  • Daszak says the time for finger-pointing is over. "We have a bat virus in my neighborhood in New York killing people," he says. "Let's get real about this."
  • Dennis OConnor on 24 Apr 20
     
    "April 23, 2020"
Dennis OConnor

The Lancet: Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and me... - 1 views

www.thelancet.com/...fulltext

covid research origins-covid-19

shared by Dennis OConnor on 24 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19
  • Dennis OConnor on 24 Apr 20
     
    March 7, 2020: The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation around its origins. We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin. Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),1 and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 as have so many other emerging pathogens.11, 12 This is further supported by a letter from the presidents of the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine13 and by the scientific communities they represent. Conspiracy theories do nothing but create fear, rumours, and prejudice that jeopardise our global collaboration in the fight against this virus. We support the call from the Director-General of WHO to promote scientific evidence and unity over misinformation and conjecture.14 We want you, the science and health professionals of China, to know that we stand with you in your fight against this virus.
Dennis OConnor

The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2 | Nature Medicine - 1 views

www.nature.com/...s41591-020-0820-9

covid research origins-covid-19

shared by Dennis OConnor on 17 Mar 20 - No Cached
  • Here we review what can be deduced about the origin of SARS-CoV-2 from comparative analysis of genomic data
  • Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.
  • The receptor-binding domain (RBD) in the spike protein is the most variable part of the coronavirus genome1,2. Six RBD amino acids have been shown to be critical for binding to ACE2 receptors and for determining the host range of SARS-CoV-like viruses7.
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • Theories of SARS-CoV-2 originsIt is improbable that SARS-CoV-2 emerged through laboratory manipulation of a related SARS-CoV-like coronavirus.
  • the genetic data irrefutably show that SARS-CoV-2 is not derived from any previously used virus backbone
  • we propose two scenarios that can plausibly explain the origin of SARS-CoV-2: (i) natural selection in an animal host before zoonotic transfer; and (ii) natural selection in humans following zoonotic transfer.
  • COVID-19 were linked to the Huanan market in Wuhan
  • it is likely that bats serve as reservoir hosts for its progenitor
  • Malayan pangolins (Manis javanica) illegally imported into Guangdong province contain coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-221
  • Although no animal coronavirus has been identified that is sufficiently similar to have served as the direct progenitor of SARS-CoV-2, the diversity of coronaviruses in bats and other species is massively undersampled
  • Detailed understanding of how an animal virus jumped species boundaries to infect humans so productively will help in the prevention of future zoonotic events.
  • It is possible that a progenitor of SARS-CoV-2 jumped into humans, acquiring the genomic features described above through adaptation during undetected human-to-human transmission.
  • All SARS-CoV-2 genomes sequenced so
  • are thus derived from a common ancestor that had them too
  • Estimates of the timing of the most recent common ancestor of SARS-CoV-2 made with current sequence data point to emergence of the virus in late November 2019 to early December 201923,
  • compatible with the earliest retrospectively confirmed cases
  • Basic research involving passage of bat SARS-CoV-like coronaviruses in cell culture and/or animal models has been ongoing for many years in biosafety level 2 laboratories across the world27, and there are documented instances of laboratory escapes of SARS-CoV28. We must therefore examine the possibility of an inadvertent laboratory release of SARS-CoV-2.
  • The finding of SARS-CoV-like coronaviruses from pangolins with nearly identical RBDs, however, provides a much stronger and more parsimonious explanation of how SARS-CoV-2 acquired these via recombination or mutation1
  • it is reasonable to wonder why the origins of the pandemic matter
  • For a precursor virus to acquire both the polybasic cleavage site and mutations in the spike protein suitable for binding to human ACE2, an animal host would probably have to have a high population density (to allow natural selection to proceed efficiently) and an ACE2-encoding gene that is similar to the human ortholog
  • More scientific data could swing the balance of evidence to favor one hypothesis over another.
Dennis OConnor

Karen Sothers - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - 0 views

www.karensothers.com

mindfulness mbsr yoga

shared by Dennis OConnor on 19 Dec 18 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 19 Dec 18
     
    Karen has been my teacher since 2012. She is a true soul. Bringing her into the circle would be a wise decision.
Dennis OConnor

Pursuing Safe and Effective Anti-Viral Drugs for COVID-19 - NIH Director's Blog - 0 views

directorsblog.nih.gov/...-anti-viral-drugs-for-covid-19

covid testing

shared by Dennis OConnor on 20 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Remdesivir
  • when an RNA virus attempts to replicate, its polymerase is tricked into incorporating remdesivir into its genome as a foreign nucleotide, or anomalous letter.
  • undecipherable, extra letter brings the replication process to a crashing halt
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • An important step was just posted as a preprint yesterday—a small study showed infusion of remdesivir was effective in limiting the severity of lung disease in rhesus macaques [2]. That’s encouraging news. But the only sure way to find out if remdesivir will actually help humans who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 is to conduct a randomized, controlled clinical trial.
  • NIAID’s Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, has already enrolled 805 patients at 67 testing sites.
  • All trial participants must have laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections and evidence of lung involvement, such as abnormal chest X-rays, rattling sounds when breathing (rales) with a need for supplemental oxygen, or a need for mechanical ventilation.
  • the study is double-blind, meaning
Dennis OConnor

Everything we know about coronavirus immunity, and plenty we still don't - 0 views

www.statnews.com/...odies-and-plenty-we-still-dont

covid testing antibodies

shared by Dennis OConnor on 20 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • an accurate positive test may be hard to interpret: the virus is so new that researchers cannot say for sure what sort of results will signal immunity or how long that armor will last.
  • policymakers may be making sweeping economic and social decisions — plans to reopen businesses or schools, for example — based on limited data, assumptions, and what’s known about other viruses.
  • most experts do think an initial infection from the coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, will grant people immunity to the virus for some amount of time.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • With data limited, “sometimes you have to act on a historical basis,” Anthony Fauci,
  • Dennis OConnor on 20 Apr 20
     
    Recommended by Tyler Orion: "People who think they've been exposed to the novel coronavirus are clamoring for antibody tests - blood screens that can detect who has previously been infected and, the hope is, signal who is protected from another case of Covid-19."
Dennis OConnor

Covid-19 Antibody Test, Seen as Key to Reopening Country, Does Not Yet Deliver - The Ne... - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...oronavirus-antibody-tests.html

shared by Dennis OConnor on 20 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 20 Apr 20
     
    DeAunne Denmark, MD, PhD: "To date, the FDA has granted EUA for only these 4 companies: Cellex, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Chembio Diagnostic Systems and the Mount Sinai Laboratory. Really looking forward to the validation and head-to-head comparison data promised here from the FDA, Chan Zuckerberg (supposedly this week?), and others. That should be telling... "
Dennis OConnor

Detect - App Scripps Research - 0 views

detectstudy.org

covid research tracking

shared by Dennis OConnor on 18 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 18 Apr 20
     
    Download the Mydatahelps app -- "When your heart beats faster than usual, it can mean that you're coming down with a cold, flu, coronavirus, or other viral infection. That's the conclusion of recent medical research. So wearable devices that measure your resting heart rate-made by Apple, Fitbit, Garmin, and others-might help scientists spot viral outbreaks, and also give you more insight into your own health. At Scripps Research, we've designed DETECT (Digital Engagement & Tracking for Early Control & Treatment), a study that will monitor your heart rate and allow you to record symptoms like fever or coughing."
Dennis OConnor

COVID-19 Wearables Data Study | Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab - 0 views

innovations.stanford.edu

covid research tracking

shared by Dennis OConnor on 18 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 18 Apr 20
     
    "Join us in our crowdsourced effort to analyze and predict potential COVID-19 cases by donating your wearables data. " This page describes study participation opportunities: Wearables Data Study, Molecular Profiling, and Global Relief Coalition
Dennis OConnor

COVID-19 Coronavirus Data & Resources - 1 views

www.wolfram.com/covid-19-resources

research data covid

shared by Dennis OConnor on 17 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 17 Apr 20
     
    Wolfram is offering free access to their data tools for educators and researchers.
Dennis OConnor

Mimi Guarneri MD Covid-19 Antibody Tests, Immune Support - YouTube - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

covid research

shared by Dennis OConnor on 17 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 17 Apr 20
     
    In this video, Dr. Guarneri explains basic antibody concepts and shares some insights from small N research at Pacific Pearl
Dennis OConnor

Mimi Guarneri: Coronavirus Patient Testing & Care Health Services Flowchart - Pacific P... - 0 views

pacificpearllajolla.com/care-health-services-flowchart

covid outpatient infographic

shared by Dennis OConnor on 17 Apr 20 - No Cached
  • Dennis OConnor on 17 Apr 20
     
    "How Will Coronavirus Patients Flow through Health Services? Many of you have called asking to be tested for Coronavirus. Given recent testing challenges, the CDC and County have provided physicians with a simple coronavirus patient testing & care health services flowchart. As you can see, if symptoms are mild, testing is not indicated at this time. It is my hope that we will soon be able to test everyone! The 211 number mentioned below is a San Diego County information line that helps people efficiently access appropriate services, and provides vital data and trend information. The website for 211 is https://211sandiego.org/"
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