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The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed many strenuous effects on the global economy, community, and medical infrastructure. Since the out- break, researchers and policymakers have scrambled to develop ways to identify how COVID-19 will affect specific sub-populations so that good public health decisions can be made. To this end, we adapt the work of Evensenet al[1] which introduces a SEIR model that incorporates an age-stratified contact matrix, a time dependent effective reproduction numberR, and uses ensemble data assimilation to estimate model parameters. The adaptation is an extension of Evensen’s modeling framework, in which we model sub-populations with varying risks of contracting SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) in a particular state, each with a characteristic age-stratified contact matrix. In this work, we will focus on 9 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia. We estimate the effective reproductive number as a function of time for our different sub-populations and then divide them into two groups: frontline communities (FLCs) and the complement (NFLCs). Our model will account for mixing both within populations (intra-population mixing) and between populations (inter-population mixing). Our data is conditioned on the daily numbers of accumulated deaths for each sub-population. We aim to test and demonstrate methodologies that can be used to assess critical metrics of the pandemic’s evolution which are difficult to directly measure. The output may ultimately be of use to measure the success or failures of the pandemic response and provide experts and policymakers a tool to create better plans for a future outbreak or pandemic. We consider the results of this work to be a reanalysis of pandemic evolution across differently affected sub-populations which may also be used to improve modeling and forecasts.

Learning disorders (LD) are diagnosed in children whose academic skills of reading, writing or mathematics are impaired and lagged according to their age, schooling and intelligence. Children with LD experience substantial working memory (WM) deficits, even more pronounced if more than one of the academic skills is affected. We compared the task-related EEG power spectral density of children with LD (n= 23), with a control group of children with good academic achievement (n= 22), during the performance of a WM task. sLoreta was used to estimate the current distribution at the sources, and 18 brain regions of interests (ROIs) were chosen with an extended version of the eigenvector centrality mapping technique. In this way, we lessen some drawbacks of the traditional EEG at the sensor space by an analysis at the brain sources level over data-driven selected ROIs. Results: The LD group showed fewer correct responses at the WM task, an overall slower EEG with more theta activity in all ROIs, less upper-alpha power at posterior areas, and less high-frequency beta activity in frontal areas. We explain these EEG patterns in LD children as indices of an inefficient neural resource management related with a delay in the neural development.

Seasonal influenza causes significant morbidity and mortality in people aged 65 years. Antiviral treatment can reduce complications and disease severity. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of antiviral treatment in patients aged >= 65 years hospitalized with confirmed influenza in preventing intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. A retrospective cohort study was carried out in 20 hospitals from seven Spanish regions during 2013-2015 in patients aged >= 65 years. Hospitalized cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza were selected. To assess the association between antiviral treatment and ICU admission or death, the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using multivariate logistic regression. We included 715 hospitalized patients, of whom 640 (87.9%) received antiviral treatment, 77 (10.8%) required ICU admission and 66 (9.2%) died. In the 64-74 years age group, receipt of antiviral treatment 7 days after symptom onset was not associated with reduced mortality. No association of antiviral treatment with reduced mortality was observed in the > 74 years age group or with the prevention of ICU admission in any age group. Antiviral treatment had a protective effect in avoiding death in patients aged 65-74 years hospitalized due to influenza when administered

Purpose of ReviewTo summarize the current knowledge of the pathophysiological implications and the clinical role of urban-related environmental exposures in pregnancy.Recent FindingsThe ongoing urbanization worldwide is leading to an increasing number of pregnant women being exposed to higher levels of urban-related environmental hazards such as air pollution and noise and, at the same time, having less contact with natural environments. Pregnancy represents a particular and vulnerable life period both for women and their children. Extensive physiological and metabolic changes, as well as changes to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems during pregnancy, could result in increased sensitivity to damage by environmental factors.SummaryExposure to air pollution and noise is associated with placental dysfunction and damage, which, in turn, could lead to maternal complications such as preeclampsia. In contrast, more contact with greenspace during pregnancy seems to mitigate these adverse impacts. These findings open up new challenges for our understanding of the potential effect of urban living on placental function and preeclampsia, and offer new clinical and research opportunities.