Search

Objective: We examined whether varying information about long COVID would affect expectations about the illness., Method: In October 2021, we conducted a 2 (Illness Description: long COVID vs. ongoing COVID-19 recovery) × 2 (Symptom Uncertainty: uncertainty emphasized vs. not emphasized) × 2 (Efficacy of Support: enhanced vs. basic support) between-subjects randomized online experimental study. Participants ( N = 1,110) were presented with a scenario describing a positive COVID-19 test result, followed by one of eight scenarios describing a long COVID diagnosis and then completed outcome measures of illness expectations including: symptom severity, symptom duration, quality of life, personal control, treatment control, and illness coherence., Results: We ran a series of 2 × 2 × 2 ANOVAs on the outcome variables. We found a main effect of illness description: individuals reported longer symptom duration and less illness coherence when the illness was described as long COVID (compared to ongoing COVID-19 recovery). There was a main effect of symptom uncertainty: when uncertainty was emphasized, participants reported longer expected symptom duration (p < .001), less treatment control ( p = .031), and less illness coherence ( p < .001) than when uncertainty was not emphasized. There was a main effect of efficacy of support: participants reported higher personal control ( p = .004) and higher treatment control ( p = .037) when support was enhanced (compared to basic support)., Conclusions: Communications around long COVID should avoid emphasizing symptom uncertainty and aim to provide people with access to additional support and information on how they can facilitate their recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic generated a surge of critically ill patients greater than the capacity of the UK National Health Service (NHS). There have been multiple well-documented impacts associated with the national COVID-19 pandemic surge on ICU staff, including an increased prevalence of mental health disorders on a scale potentially sufficient to impair high-quality care delivery. We investigated the prevalence of five mental health outcomes; explored demographic and professional predictors of poor mental health outcomes; and describe the prevalence of functional impairment; and explore demographic and professional predictors of functional impairment in ICU staff over the 2020/2021 winter COVID-19 surge in England., Methods: English ICU staff were surveyed before, during, and after the winter 2020/2021 surge using a survey which comprised validated measures of mental health., Results: A total of 6080 surveys were completed, by ICU nurses (57.5%), doctors (27.9%), and other healthcare staff (14.5%). Reporting probable mental health disorders increased from 51% (before) to 64% (during), and then decreased to 46% (after). Younger, less experienced nursing staff were most likely to report probable mental health disorders. During and after the winter, >50% of participants met threshold criteria for functional impairment. Staff who reported probable post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression were more likely to meet threshold criteria for functional impairment., Conclusions: The winter of 2020/2021 was associated with an increase in poor mental health outcomes and functional impairment amongst ICU staff during a period of peak caseload. These effects are likely to impact on patient care outcomes and the longer-term resilience of the healthcare workforce., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest NG runs a consultancy which provides the NHS with active listening and peer support training. KF works at University College London Hospitals as a consultant anaesthetist, holds an academic chair at University College London, and is seconded to NHS England as an advisor. HWWP has received funding from Public Health England and from NHS England. HWWP has a PhD student who works at and has fees paid by AstraZeneca. KK works for the Care Quality Commission., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

After a meal, excess nutrients are stored within adipose tissue as triglycerides in structures called lipid droplets. Previous genome-wide RNAi screens have identified that mRNA splicing factor genes are required for normal lipid droplet formation in Drosophila cells. We have previously shown that mRNA splicing factors called serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins are important for triglyceride storage in the Drosophila fat body. SR proteins shuttle in and out of the nucleus with the help of proteins called Transportins (Tnpo-SR); however, whether this transport is important for SR protein-mediated regulation of lipid storage is unknown. The purpose of this study is to characterize the role of Tnpo-SR proteins in regulating lipid storage in the Drosophila fat body. Decreasing Tnpo-SR in the adult fat body resulted in an increase in triglyceride storage and consistent with this phenotype, Tnpo-SR-RNAi flies also have increased starvation resistance. In addition, the lipid accumulation in Tnpo-SR-RNAi flies is the result of increased triglyceride stored in each fat body cell and not due to increased food consumption. Interestingly, the splicing of CPT1, an enzyme important for the β-oxidation of fatty acids, is altered in Tnpo-SR-RNAi fat bodies. The isoform that produces the less catalytically active form of CPT1 accumulates in fat bodies where Tnpo-SR levels are decreased, suggesting a decrease in lipid breakdown, potentially causing the excess triglyceride storage observed in these flies. Together, these data suggest that the transport of splicing proteins in and out of the nucleus is important for proper triglyceride storage in the Drosophila fat body., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Dealing with excess death in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the question of a 'good or bad death' into sharp relief as countries across the globe have grappled with multiple peaks of cases and mortality; and communities mourn those lost. In the UK, these challenges have included the fact that mortality has adversely affected minority communities. Corpse disposal and social distancing guidelines do not allow a process of mourning in which families and communities can be involved in the dying process. This study aimed to examine the main concerns of faith and non-faith communities across the UK in relation to death in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research team used rapid ethnographic methods to examine the adaptations to the dying process prior to hospital admission, during admission, during the disposal and release of the body, during funerals and mourning. The study revealed that communities were experiencing collective loss, were making necessary adaptations to rituals that surrounded death, dying and mourning and would benefit from clear and compassionate communication and consultation with authorities., Competing Interests: Competing interests: LB is a member of SAGE SPI-B committee, Ethnicity Subgroup and Independent SAGE., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

The availability of excess nutrients in Western diets has led to the overaccumulation of these nutrients as triglycerides, a condition known as obesity. The full complement of genes important for regulating triglyceride storage is not completely understood. Genome-wide RNAi screens in Drosophila cells have identified genes involved in mRNA splicing as important lipid storage regulators. Our lab has shown that a group of splicing factors called heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) regulate lipid metabolism in the fly fat body; however, the identities of all the hnRNPs that function to control triglyceride storage are not known. Here, we used the GAL4/UAS system to induce RNAi to the hnRNP glorund ( glo ) in the Drosophila fat body to assess whether this hnRNP has any metabolic functions. Decreasing glo levels resulted in less triglycerides being stored throughout the fly. Interestingly, decreasing fat body glo expression resulted in increased triglyceride storage in the fat body, but blunted triglyceride storage in non-fat body tissues, suggesting a defect in lipid transport. Consistent with this hypothesis, the expression of apolipophorin ( apolpp ), microsomal triglyceride transfer protein ( mtp ), and apolipoprotein lipid transfer particle ( apoltp ), apolipoprotein genes important for lipid transport through the fly hemolymph, was decreased in glo -RNAi flies, suggesting that glo regulates the transport of lipids from the fly fat body to surrounding tissues. Together, these results indicate that glorund plays a role in controlling lipid transport and storage and provide additional evidence of the link between gene expression and the regulation of lipid metabolism., (© 2021 The Author(s).)

The storage of excess nutrients as triglycerides is essential for all organisms to survive when food is scarce; however, the mechanisms by which triglycerides are stored are not completely understood. Genome-wide RNAi screens in Drosophila cells have identified genes involved in mRNA splicing that are important in the regulation of triglyceride storage. Our lab has identified a number of splicing factors important for regulating lipid metabolism; however, the full complement of splicing proteins involved in achieving metabolic homeostasis is unknown. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs), RNA binding proteins that inhibit the splicing of introns by preventing the assembly of splicing complexes, have no established metabolic functions. To assess any metabolic functions of hnRNPs, we used the GAL4/UAS system to induce RNAi to six hnRNP's: hnRNP-K, rumpelstiltskin (rump), smooth (sm), Hrb27C (also referred to as Hrp48), Hrb98DE, and Hrb87F in the Drosophila fat body. Decreasing the levels of hnRNP-K and rump resulted in a decrease in triglyceride storage, whereas decreasing the levels of sm, Hrb27C, and Hrb98DE resulted in an increase in triglyceride storage. The excess triglyceride phenotype in Hrb27C-RNAi flies resulted from both an increase in the number of fat body cells and the amount of fat stored per cell. In addition, both the splicing of the β-oxidation gene, CPT1, and the expression of the lipase brummer (bmm) was altered in flies with decreased Hrb27C, providing insight into the lipid storage phenotype in these flies. Together, these results suggest that the hnRNP family of splicing factors have varying metabolic functions and may act on specific metabolic genes to control their expression and processing., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)