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For the clinical treatment of cancer patients, coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) can cause serious immune-related problems. Cancer patients, who experience immunosuppression due to the pathogenesis and severity of disease, may become more aggressive due to multiple factors such as age, comorbidities, and immunosuppression. In this pandemic era, COVID-19 causes lymphopenia, cancer cell awakening, inflammatory diseases, and a cytokine storm that worsens disease-related morbidity and prognosis. We discuss all the risk factors of COVID-19 associated with cancer patients and propose new strategies to use antiviral and anticancer drugs for therapeutic purposes. We bring new drugs, cancers and COVID-19 treatment strategies together to address the immune system challenges faced by oncologists. The chronic inflammatory microenvironment caused by COVID-19 awakens dormant cancer cells through inflammation and autoimmune activation. Drug-related strategies to ensure that clinical treatment can reduce the susceptibility of cancer patients to COVID-19, and possible counter-measures to minimize the harm caused by the COVID-19 have been outlined. The response to the pandemic and recovery has been elaborated, which can provide information for long-term cancer treatment and speed up the optimization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dry root tuber ofStephania epigaeacontained 36.5% starch, indicating a good starch source. In this study, starch was isolated fromS. epigaea. Its morphology, physicochemical, and functional properties were investigated and compared with potato and maize starches.S. epigaeastarch had small spherical granules with centric hila and large ellipsoidal granules with eccentric hila, and granule sizes varied from 7 to 40 μm. The starch had 33.9% amylose content and B-type crystallinity. The gelatinization onset, peak, and final temperatures were 59.4, 62.3, and 66.2°C, respectively, and were lower than those of potato and maize starches, but the enthalpy (16.3 J/g) was higher than that of potato and maize starches. The peak, hot, final, and breakdown viscosities were 2227, 1623, 2149, and 594 dPa s, respectively, and were significantly higher than those of maize starch and lower than those of potato starch.S. epigaeastarch was more susceptible to amylase hydrolysis andin vitrodigestion than potato starch and less than maize starch. This study would be useful for the applications of starch fromS. epigaeain the food and non-food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the utilization of health care services by pregnant women affected by preeclampsia (PE). Design: Population-based study. Setting: Perinatal partnership hospitals in Ontario. Population: Obstetric deliveries in 2005 Canadian province of Ontario (about 95% of births). Methods: For each PE case, four subjects without PE matched by age, parity, plurality, and hospital at childbirth were chosen as the controls. We compared the utilization of intra-partum care services and infant outcomes between the two groups. We also estimated the extra costs to the health care system in Ontario for caesarean delivery and caring of extremely low birth weight infants attributable to PE during the neonatal period and in the first 2 years of life. Main Outcome Measures: Cesarean delivery, hospital stay, extremely low birth weight infants, cost. Results: Of the 120,611 obstetric deliveries included in this analysis, 1240 (1.3%) were diagnosed with PE. Patients with PE and matched controls were similar in maternal age, parity, and other demographic characteristics. Compared with study subjects without PE, those with PE had increased uses of spinal anesthesia, maternal transfer, Cesarean delivery, labour induction, neonatal transfer, newborn resuscitation, longer hospital stay for childbirth, and higher rates of preterm births and low birth weight. The extra costs to the health care system for cesarean delivery and caring of extremely low-birth-weight infants attributable to PE during the neonatal period and in the first 2 years of life in Ontario were $0.5 millions, 3.1 millions, and $5.1 million per year, respectively, if we use the reported PE rate in this database. Conclusion: PE is associated with substantially increased costs to the health care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl(PFAS) substances are the most common environmental pollutants, which has an inconsistent association with hyperuricemia across different populations. This study explored the relationship between hyperuricemia and different gender PFAS and PFAS mixtures, using data from two cycles of the NHANES from 2015-2018. Weighted logistic regression results showed that the correlation between individual PFAS and hyperuricemia was significant only in men. Compared to the reference quartile, the fourth quartile of n-PFOA increased the risk of hyperuricemia in men (OR: 2.79, 95% CI: 1.50, 5.18). The Qgcomp model results showed that each quartile increase in the serum concentration of PFAS mixtures was associated with an increased likelihood of hyperuricemia in the total population, with odds ratios (OR) for men and women being 1.74 (95% CI: 1.26, 2.40), and 2.04 (95% CI: 1.35, 3.16), respectively. we concluded that PFAS might increase the risk of hyperuricemia in adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]