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Due to the high prevalence and persistence of long COVID, it is important to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for patients who experience long-lasting symptoms more than six months after initial COVID-19 onset. Enrolled patients were admitted for a four-week in-patient-PR due to long COVID symptoms (n = 47). The safety of PR was confirmed by the absence of adverse events. Symptom-related outcomes were evaluated pre- and post-PR with significant score changes for: 6 min walking distance (61 [28 to 103] m), quality of life (mental Short Form-12: 10 [6 to 13], and physical: 9 [6 to 12]), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (1 [0 to 3]), fatigue (MFI-20: -19 [-28 to -8]), dyspnea (DYSPNEA-12: -7 [-9 to -2] and mMRC; -1 [-1 to 0]), Nijmegen questionnaire (-8 [-11 to -5]), anxiety and depression (HADS:-4 [-5 to -2] and -2 [-4 to -1], respectively) and posttraumatic stress disorder checklist scale (-8 [-12 to -4]). At the individual level, the percentage of symptomatic patients for each outcome decreased, with a high response rate, and the number of persistent symptoms per patient was reduced from six at PR initiation to three at the end of the program. Our results show that in-PR is safe and efficient at decreasing long-lasting symptoms experienced by long COVID patients at more than six months after initial disease onset.

This article focuses on the synthesis of polyhydroxyurethane (PHU) materials containing novel phosphorus flame retardants (FR). Four different phosphorus compounds were grafted onto cyclic carbonate: 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO), diethyl phosphite (DEP), diphenyl phosphite (DPP) and dibenzo[d,f][1,3,2]dioxaphosphepine 6-oxide (BPPO). Thus, three novel phosphorus reactive cyclic carbonates which have never been reported so far were synthetized. Phosphorus FR containing PHU materials were characterized by FTIR to evidence the total conversion of the cyclic carbonate. Moreover, the gel contents up to 80% confirmed the formation of the polymer network. Then, the thermal stability and the flame-retardant properties were investigated by thermogravimetric analyses, cone calorimeter and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimeter. The mode of action of phosphorus compounds, depending on the oxidation state, was especially highlighted. Phosphonate (+III) provided better action in a condensed phase than phosphinate thanks to a more efficient char formation. Among phosphonates, differences were observed in terms of char-formation rate and expansion. DEP provided the best flame-retardant properties, with a reduction of 76% of pHRR with 2 wt% of phosphorus in cone calorimeter analysis. Therefore, this article highlighted the different modes of action of phosphorus flame retardants, depending on the oxidation state of phosphorus, in PHU materials.

Tacrolimus, the keystone immunosuppressive drug administered after solid organ transplantation, presents a narrow therapeutic index and wide inter- and intra-patient pharmacokinetic variability (IPV). The latter has been fairly studied in kidney transplantation, where it could impact outcomes. However, literature about other transplanted organ recipients remains inconclusive. This review aimed at summarizing the evidence about the IPV of tacrolimus concentrations outside of the scope of kidney transplantation. First, factors influencing IPV will be presented. Then, the potential of IPV as a biomarker predictive of graft outcomes will be discussed in liver, heart, lung and pancreas transplantation. Lastly, strategies to reduce IPV will be reviewed, with the ultimate objective being ready-to-implement solutions in clinical practice by transplantation professionals.

Numerous genes are overexpressed in the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans after exposure to radiation or prolonged desiccation. It was shown that the DdrO and IrrE proteins play a major role in regulating the expression of approximately twenty genes. The transcriptional repressor DdrO blocks the expression of these genes under normal growth conditions. After exposure to genotoxic agents, the IrrE metalloprotease cleaves DdrO and relieves gene repression. At present, many questions remain, such as the number of genes regulated by DdrO. Here, we present the first ChIP-seq analysis performed at the genome level in Deinococcus species coupled with RNA-seq, which was achieved in the presence or not of DdrO. We also resequenced our laboratory stock strain of D. radiodurans R1 ATCC 13939 to obtain an accurate reference for read alignments and gene expression quantifications. We highlighted genes that are directly under the control of this transcriptional repressor and showed that the DdrO regulon in D. radiodurans includes numerous other genes than those previously described, including DNA and RNA metabolism proteins. These results thus pave the way to better understand the radioresistance pathways encoded by this bacterium and to compare the stress-induced responses mediated by this pair of proteins in diverse bacteria.