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As of 2024, SARS-CoV-2 continues to propagate and drift as an endemic virus, impacting healthcare for years. The largest sequencing initiative for any species was initiated to combat the virus, tracking changes over time at a full virus base-pair resolution. The SARS-CoV-2 sequencing represents a unique opportunity to understand selective pressures and viral evolution but requires cross-disciplinary approaches from epidemiology to functional protein biology. Within this work, we integrate a two-year genotyping window with structural biology to explore the selective pressures of SARS-CoV-2 on protein insights. Although genotype and the Spike (Surface Glycoprotein) protein continue to drift, most SARS-CoV-2 proteins have had few amino acid alterations. Within Spike, the high drift rate of amino acids involved in antibody evasion also corresponds to changes within the ACE2 binding pocket that have undergone multiple changes that maintain functional binding. The genotyping suggests selective pressure for receptor specificity that could also confer changes in viral risk. Mapping of amino acid changes to the structures of the SARS-CoV-2 co-transcriptional complex (nsp7-nsp14), nsp3 (papain-like protease), and nsp5 (cysteine protease) proteins suggest they remain critical factors for drug development that will be sustainable, unlike those strategies targeting Spike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES Severe functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR) is associated with subvalvular remodelling, but leaflet tissue alterations may also contribute. We set out to investigate molecular mechanisms driving leaflet remodelling in chronic ovine FTR. METHODS Thirteen adult sheep (55 ± 4 kg) underwent left thoracotomy, epicardial echocardiography and pulmonary artery banding to induce right heart failure and FTR. After 16 weeks, 13 banded (FTR) and 12 control animals underwent median sternotomy for epicardial echocardiography and were subsequently sacrificed with each tricuspid leaflet tissue harvested for RNA-seq and histology. RESULTS After 16 weeks, 7 animals developed severe, 2 moderate and 4 mild tricuspid regurgitation. Relative to control, FTR animals had increased pulmonary artery pressure, tricuspid regurgitation, tricuspid annular diameter and right atrial volume, while tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion and right ventricle fractional area change decreased. FTR leaflets exhibited altered constituents and an increase in cellularity. RNA-seq identified 85 significantly differentially expressed genes with 17, 53 and 127 within the anterior, posterior and septal leaflets, respectively. RRM2 , PRG4 and CXCL8 (IL-8) were identified as differentially expressed genes across all leaflets and CXCL8 was differentially expressed between FTR severity grades. RRM2 , PRG4 and CXCL8 significantly correlated with tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, and this correlation was consistent regardless of the anatomical location of the leaflet. CONCLUSIONS Pulmonary artery banding in our ovine model resulted in right ventricle failure and FTR. Leaflet RNA-seq identified several differentially expressed genes, specifically RRM2 , PRG4 and CXCL8 , with known roles in tissue remodelling. These data, along with an overall increase in leaflet cellularity, suggest tricuspid leaflets actively remodel in FTR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has resurfaced challenges to gender equality and gender relations both worldwide and in Norway. There have been massive public discussions on social media platforms, highlighting the potential of analysing public discourses in a non-reactive manner (Rauchfleisch et al., 2021). Further, discourses from social media may affect cultural representations and broad discourses in society (Rambukkana, 2015), such as that related to gender. In this article, by studying the Norwegian Twitter users' discussion on gender as related to COVID-19 pandemic, the authors will examine the everyday gendered discourses. Design/methodology/approach: Data for this project were collected from the social media platform Twitter. The authors conducted the search on 16th November 2020, and that resulted in a total of 485 results, inclusive of both original tweets and replies. The data were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. Findings: The thematic analysis of the tweets revealed three main categories which were mirrored in recognisable and widespread discourses about gender: (1) stereotypical gendered behaviours, (2) construction of masculinities and (3) othering. The authors argued that the stereotypes on gendered behaviour, traits and ideology together attribute to the maintenance of unequal gender structures. Originality/value: This article explored discourses on gender on Twitter, the networked public sphere of Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that discourses both reflect and shape social configurations, they have the power to shape gender realities. With the transcendence of social media across geographic boundaries, the authors' findings are relevant both for Norway and globally. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2022-0482 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding suitable long-term care arrangements for older migrants in Europe, including Norway, has been a major concern for healthcare policymakers in the last decade. However, many older people with migrant backgrounds, and to a certain extent their descendants, often prefer that care arrangements are managed within the family. Although caring for family members may be personally satisfying, it can also be a source of distress. This study explores the motivations of care among female family caregivers of older Pakistani migrants within the Norwegian Ahmadiyya community. Our data are derived from a qualitative study including individual and group interviews with 19 female family caregivers. The study participants were aged 25–62 and resided in Norway. The interviews were conducted in Urdu and English and later transcribed verbatim in English. Our findings resulted in four main themes regarding motivations for caregiving: (1) “Who else, if not the family?”: care perceived as a family obligation; (2) The divine duty of caregiving; (3) Women are better at caregiving; and (4) “What will people say?”: fear of judgments. The intersection of culture, religion, gender, and migration shaped caregiving as a moral practice, and those providing care were considered individuals with high moral identity. The moral identity assigned to the role of family caregivers appears to exacerbate rather than alleviate the care burden on women of migrant origin. Understanding the motivations for caregiving can shed light on ways in which better support can be provided to ethnic minority families with aging members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]