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Objectives Environmental contamination by patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) through respiratory droplets suggests that surfaces and equipment could be a medium of transmission. We aimed to assess the surface and equipment contamination by SARS-COV-2 of an emergency department (ED) during the coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Methods We performed multiple samples from different sites in ED patients care and non-patient care areas with sterile premoistened swabs and used real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA). We also sampled the personal protective equipment (PPE) from health care workers (HCWs). Results Among the 192 total samples, 10 (5.2%) were positive. In patient care areas, 5/46 (10.9%) of the surfaces directly in contact with COVID-19 patients revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and 4/56 (7.1%) of the surfaces that were not directly in contact with COVID-19 patients were positive. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present only in the patients’ examination and monitoring rooms. Before decontamination SARS-CoV-2 RNA was present on the saturation clip, the scuff for blood pressure measurement, the stretcher, the plastic screens between patients and the floor. After decontamination, SARS-CoV-2 RNA remained on the scuff, the stretcher and the trolleys. All samples from non-patient care areas or staff working rooms were negative. Only one sample from the PPE of the HCWs was positive. Conclusions Our findings suggest that surfaces and equipment contamination by SARS-CoV-2 RNA in an ED during the COVID-19 outbreak is low and concerns exclusively patients’ examination and monitoring rooms, preserving non-patient care areas.

Objective To update the evidence-based recommendations for the prevention and treatment of hypertension in adults for 2010. Options and outcomes For lifestyle and pharmacological interventions, randomized trials and systematic reviews of trials were preferentially reviewed. Changes in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality were the primary outcomes of interest. However, for lifestyle interventions, blood pressure lowering was accepted as a primary outcome given the general lack of long-term morbidity and mortality data in this field. Progressive renal impairment was also accepted as a clinically relevant primary outcome among patients with chronic kidney disease. Evidence A Cochrane Collaboration librarian conducted an independent MEDLINE search from 2008 to August 2009 to update the 2009 recommendations. To identify additional studies, reference lists were reviewed and experts were contacted. All relevant articles were reviewed and appraised independently by both content and methodological experts using prespecified levels of evidence. Recommendations For lifestyle modifications to prevent and treat hypertension, restrict dietary sodium to 1500mg (65mmol) per day in adults 50 years of age or younger, to 1300mg (57mmol) per day in adults 51 to 70 years of age, and to 1200mg (52mmol) per day in adults older than 70 years of age; perform 30min to 60min of moderate aerobic exercise four to seven days per week; maintain a healthy body weight (body mass index 18.5kg/m 2 to 24.9kg/m 2 ) and waist circumference (less than 102cm for men and less than 88cm for women); limit alcohol consumption to no more than 14 standard drinks per week for men or nine standard drinks per week for women; follow a diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, dietary and soluble fibre, whole grains and protein from plant sources, and that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol; and consider stress management in selected individuals with hypertension. For the pharmacological management of hypertension, treatment thresholds and targets should be predicated on the patient's global atherosclerotic risk, target organ damage and comorbid conditions. Blood pressure should be decreased to less than 140/90 mmHg in all patients, and to less than 130/80 mmHg in patients with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease. Most patients will require more than one agent to achieve these target blood pressures. Antihypertensive therapy should be considered in all adult patients regardless of age (caution should be exercised in elderly patients who are frail). For adults without compelling indications for other agents, considerations for initial therapy should include thiazide diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (in patients who are not black), long-acting calcium channel blockers (CCBs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) or beta-blockers (in those younger than 60 years of age). A combination of two first-line agents may also be considered as initial treatment of hypertension if systolic blood pressure is 20mmHg above target or if diastolic blood pressure is 10mmHg above target. The combination of ACE inhibitors and ARBs should not be used, unless compelling indications are present to suggest consideration of dual therapy. Agents appropriate for first-line therapy for isolated systolic hypertension include thiazide diuretics, long-acting dihydropyridine CCBs or ARBs. In patients with coronary artery disease, ACE inhibitors, ARBs or beta-blockers are recommended as first-line therapy; in patients with cerebrovascular disease, an ACE inhibitor/diuretic combination is preferred; in patients with proteinuric nondiabetic chronic kidney disease, ACE inhibitors or ARBs (if intolerant to ACE inhibitors) are recommended; and in patients with diabetes mellitus, ACE inhibitors or ARBs (or, in patients without albuminuria, thiazides or dihydropyridine CCBs) are appropriate first-line therapies. In selected high-risk patients in whom combination therapy is being considered, an ACE inhibitor plus a long-acting dihydropyridine CCB is preferable to an ACE inhibitor plus a thiazide diuretic. All hypertensive patients with dyslipidemia should be treated using the thresholds, targets and agents outlined in the Canadian lipid treatment guidelines. Selected patients with hypertension who do not achieve thresholds for statin therapy, but who are otherwise at high risk for cardiovascular events, should nonetheless receive statin therapy. Once blood pressure is controlled, low-dose acetylsalicylic acid therapy should be considered. Validation All recommendations were graded according to the strength of the evidence and voted on by the 63 members of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program Evidence-Based Recommendations Task Force. All recommendations reported here achieved at least 80% consensus. These guidelines will continue to be updated annually. Sponsors The Canadian Hypertension Education Program process is sponsored by the Canadian Hypertension Society, Blood Pressure Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Pharmacists Association, the Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

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Werner syndrome (WS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by genomic instability and by the premature onset of a number of age-related diseases, including cancers. The gene responsible for WS encodes a protein that has an exonuclease domain and a domain similar to DNA helicases of the RecQ-like subfamily. Accumulating evidence indicates that the WS gene product is involved in resolving aberrant DNA structures that may arise during the process of DNA replication and transcription. Such processes generate regions of single-stranded DNA that may inadvertently provide a substrate for the initiation of recombination. Various mechanisms have evolved to ensure that recombination does not occur promiscuously during these events, and results are consistent with a model in which the WS protein is part of one such mechanism.

Background and Purpose We have shown that infusions of apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) mimetic peptide induced regression of aortic valve stenosis (AVS) in rabbits. This study aimed at determining the effects of ApoA-I mimetic therapy in mice with calcific or fibrotic AVS. Experimental Approach Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE−/−) mice and mice with Werner progeria gene deletion (WrnΔhel/Δhel) received high-fat diets for 20 weeks. After developing AVS, mice were randomized to receive saline (placebo group) or ApoA-I mimetic peptide infusions (ApoA-I treated groups, 100 mg·kg−1 for ApoE−/− mice; 50 mg·kg−1 for Wrn mice), three times per week for 4 weeks. We evaluated effects on AVS using serial echocardiograms and valve histology. Key Results Aortic valve area (AVA) increased in both ApoE−/− and Wrn mice treated with the ApoA-I mimetic compared with placebo. Maximal sinus wall thickness was lower in ApoA-I treated ApoE−/− mice. The type I/III collagen ratio was lower in the sinus wall of ApoA-I treated ApoE−/− mice compared with placebo. Total collagen content was reduced in aortic valves of ApoA-I treated Wrn mice. Our 3D computer model and numerical simulations confirmed that the reduction in aortic root wall thickness resulted in improved AVA. Conclusions and Implications ApoA-I mimetic treatment reduced AVS by decreasing remodelling and fibrosis of the aortic root and valve in mice.