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A race is currently being launched as a result of the international health situation. This race aims to find, by various means, weapons to counter the Covid-19 pandemic now widespread on all continents. The aquatic world and in particular that of photosynthetic organisms is regularly highlighted but paradoxically little exploited in view of the tremendous possibilities it offers. Computational tools allow not only to clear the existence and activity of many molecules but also to model their relationships with receptors identified in potential hosts. On a routine basis, our laboratory carries out a research activity on functionalities of molecules derived from algae using in silico tools. We have implemented our skills in algae biology and in modeling, as tests in order to identify molecules expressed by the genus Arthrospira showing an antiviral potential and more particularly anti-SARS-CoV-2. Using consensus docking and redocking with Autodock Vina and SwissDock, we were able to identify several promising molecules from Arthrospira phycocyanobilin, phycoerythrobilin, phycourobilin, and folic acid. These four compounds showed reliable binding energies comprised between - 6.95 and - 7.45 kcal.mol-1 in Autodock Vina and between - 9.285 and - 10.35 kcal.mol-1 with SwissDock. Toxicity prediction as well as current regulations provided promising arguments for the inclusion of these compounds in further studies to assess their ability to compete with the SARS-CoV-2/ACE2 complex both in vitro and in vivo.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10811-021-02372-9.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10811-021-02372-9.Three (MgB2)1-x (SnO2) x samples with x ranging from 0 to 5 wt% were prepared by the in situ route to study the effect of tin dioxide additions on the superconducting properties of MgB2 bulk materials. All of the reacted samples were slightly Mg deficient although the starting MgB precursor powder ratio was 12. A heat treatment (HT) temperature of 700 °C with a dwell time of 30 min was used. XRD results showed evidence of peak shifts for MgB2 phases with SnO2 addition. The magnitude of the a-axis lattice constant change (0.361 ± 0.075 %) calculated for the 3 wt% doped samples is comparable in magnitude to that seen previously for the C-doped MgB2 bulks which exhibited enhanced B C2 . The upper critical fields (B C2 ) and the irreversibility fields (B irr ) were measured resistively in fields up to 14 T at 5 K to T c . The best B C2 value at 20 K (15.2 T based on extrapolation) was seen for sample IS3 (x = 3 wt%), and was comparable to the best B C2 values (≈ 15 T at 20 K) seen for C-doped MgB2 bulks. IS3 had a corresponding B irr = 10.8 T (20 K). The superconducting transition temperature (T c ) appeared to increase slightly with doping, although within the range of error bars (37.4 K to 37.6 K for 1.6 T B C2 increase at 20 K), in contrast to C doping which is accompanied by a significant decrease in T c (39 K to 36 K for 3.8 % C doped MgB2 bulk). We attribute the observed increase in both B C2 and B irr for SnO2-additions to lattice strain caused by the introduction of precipitates within the grains.A major challenge for health services worldwide is in providing adequate medical care during mass disasters. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic highlights this difficulty. Patient surge, a consequence of most types of disasters that contribute to trauma experiences, is a primary factor in disrupting such care as it is composed of worried well persons and those experiencing psychosocial trauma that can severely disrupt and overwhelm effective acute hospital based health care. We review the literature and propose a potential solution framework to reduce such a surge that relies on exploiting community social networks as first responders. We utilize and integrate literature based evidence on patient surge, community disaster behaviors and community based informal social networks to examine reasons for patient surge to hospitals. We then propose that leveraging community based social networks as a potent deterrent for non-critically injured, especially those who have experienced psychosocial trauma or the worried well, from seeking hospital care during ongoing disasters. By emphasizing the social capital inherent in community based social networks, this perspective posits an alternative cost-effective means of reducing patient surge.With the rapid aging of the U.S. population, the mobility impairment is becoming a more and more challenging issue that affects a large number of individuals. The research presented in this paper aims at helping the mobility-challenged individuals with a novel robotic companion, which is a walker-type mobile robot capable of accompanying the human user and keeping user at the center for protection and possible power assistance. The robotic companion is equipped with a 3D computer vision system, which provides a unique capability of sensing the human-robot relative position/orientation without physical contact or the need for wearable sensors. selleck chemical As such, the robotic companion enables the user to walk freely with minimum disturbance to his/her normal gait, relieving the user from the physical and cognitive loads associated with the use of traditional assistive devices. For the development of the robotic companion, the authors designed and fabricated a low-cost, differentially steered mobile robotic platform, and also developed a unique image processing system to extract the position/orientation information from the 3D camera-captured images. Furthermore, an advanced motion control system was developed for the robotic companion, which provides novel solutions to the unique challenges such as sway reduction and noise reduction in digital differentiation. To quantify the performance, component and system-level experimentation was conducted, and the results demonstrated that robotic companion and its key components function as desired and the system is expected to reduce the user load and improve the user mobility in real-world scenarios.Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has turned out to cause a pandemic, with a sky scraping mortality. The virus is thought to cause tissue injury by affecting the renin-angiotensin system. Also, the role of the over-activated immune system is noteworthy, leading to severe tissue injury via the cytokine storms. Thus it would be feasible to modulate the immune system response in order to attenuate the disease severity, as well as treating the patients. Today different medicines are being administered to the patients, but regardless of the efficacy of these treatments, adverse effects are pretty probable. Meanwhile, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) prove to be an effective candidate for treating the patients suffering from COVID-19 pneumonia, owing to their immunomodulatory and tissue-regenerative potentials. So far, several experiments have been conducted; transplanting MSCs and results are satisfying with no adverse effects being reported.