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137 Research products, page 1 of 14

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  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Randewijk, Peter Jan;
    Publisher: European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI)
    Country: Denmark

    A brand new, state-of-the-art Microgrid Laboratory Setup was built at the Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU) Ballerup campus to aid with practical, hands-on teaching in the field of power system engineering. The primary focus of the Microgrid Setup is to closely emulate the behaviour of thermal power plants, e.g. emergency power plants, modern distributed combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) and combined heat and power (CHP) plants, especially with regard to synchronous generator control. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional requirement came to the fore, in that this Microgrid Setup should also be fully accessible via the web. The design was broadened to include remote, hands-on and flexible experimentation [1], in order for student groups to engage in remote collaborative learning [2].

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Tang, Julian W.; Bahnfleth, William P.; Bluyssen, Philomena M.; Buonanno, Giorgio; Jimenez, Jose L.; Kurnitski, Jarek; Li, Yuguo; Miller, Shelly; Sekhar, Chandra; Morawska, Lidia; +7 more
    Countries: Denmark, United Kingdom

    The Covid-19 pandemic has caused untold disruption and enhanced mortality rates around the world. Understanding the mechanisms for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is key to preventing further spread but there is confusion over the meaning of “airborne” whenever transmission is discussed. Scientific ambivalence originates from evidence published many years ago, which has generated mythological beliefs that obscure current thinking. This article gathers together and explores some of the most commonly held dogmas on airborne transmission in order to stimulate revision of the science in the light of current evidence. Six ‘myths’ are presented, explained, and ultimately refuted on the basis of recently published papers and expert opinion from previous work related to similar viruses. There is little doubt that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via a range of airborne particle sizes subject to all the usual ventilation parameters and human behaviour. Experts from specialties encompassing aerosol studies, ventilation, engineering, physics, virology and clinical medicine have joined together to present this review, in order to consolidate the evidence for airborne transmission mechanisms and offer justification for modern strategies for prevention and control of Covid-19 in healthcare and community.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Bjorgvinsdottir, Unnur Jona; Carstensen, Laura Stentoft; Colliander, Anna; Jaehger, Ditte Elisabeth; Veiga, Gael Clergeaud; Halldorsdottir, Holmfriour Rosa; Jorgensen, Matilde Smaerup; Christensen, Esben; Vangsgaard, Sara; Koukos, Aristeidis; +3 more
    Country: Denmark

    Background Therapeutic cancer vaccines represent an intriguing approach to cancer immunotherapy and they have been widely explored for the last decade. As opposed to standard modalities, such as surgery and chemotherapy, an effective vaccine-based immune response may provide protection against metastatic disease. Peptide based vaccines can elicit a highly targeted immune response and include a simple, fast and cost-effective production due to recent developments in solid phase peptide synthesis. Recent development within the field of COVID-19 vaccines has highlighted the use of lipid nanoparticles as an effective drug delivery system for vaccination. Incorporation of peptide antigens into engineered micro- and nanoparticles enables induction of a potent T cell response, partly attributed to prolonged and improved antigen presentation by dendritic cells after particle internalization. Peptide-based vaccines are often based on delivery of high-affinity T cell model epitopes. However, the therapeutic relevance of vaccination with low-affinity epitopes is gaining increasing support following the observation that high-affinity epitopes can promote T cell exhaustion resulting from excessive T cell receptor stimulation. Here, we characterize and evaluate a novel lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine platform that is suited for delivery of both high- and low-affinity epitopes in the setting of therapeutic cancer vaccination.Methods LNPs were formulated to carry high- or low-affinity peptide epitopes from Ovalbumin (OVA) in conjunction with the TLR7 agonist 1V270. The peptides were anchored to the surface of the LNPs via a reducible DSPE-PEG2000 linker system. The therapeutic vaccine platform was evaluated in vivo both as a monotherapy and in combination with adoptive transfer of OT-I T cells in the syngeneic B16-OVA murine melanoma model.Results The LNP vaccine promotes efficient antigen-release and ensures high, continuous antigen-presentation by antigen-presenting cells. While the LNPs can be administered via multiple routes, intratumoral vaccination favors enhanced particle uptake in dendritic cells in the tumor. Formulated with either high- or low-affinity epitopes, intratumorally delivered vaccine particles promote superior tumor-infiltration of adoptively transferred T cells, which translates into potent anti-tumor efficacy in vivo. Finally, we show that vaccination with both CD8+ and CD4+ epitopes can delay tumor growth and prolong survival in an antigen-dependent manner.Conclusions This study presents a versatile and multi-purpose LNP vaccine platform that ensures effective delivery of high- and low-affinity epitopes. Intratumoral administration promotes vaccine particle uptake by intratumoral dendritic cells, which is followed by T cell infiltration and anti-tumor efficacy in vivo.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Weizhi Meng; Yong Cai; Laurence T. Yang; Wei-Yang Chiu;
    Country: Denmark

    Driven by an increasing number of connected medical devices, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), as an application of Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare, is developed to help collect, analyze, and transmit medical data. During the outbreak of a pandemic like COVID-19, IoMT can be useful to monitor the status of patients and detect main symptoms remotely, by using various smart sensors. However, due to the lack of emotional care in the current IoMT, it is still a challenge to reach an efficient medical process. Especially under COVID-19, there is a need to monitor emotional status among particular people like the elderly. In this work, we propose an emotion-aware healthcare monitoring system in IoMT, based on brainwaves. With the fast development of electroencephalography (EEG) sensors in current headsets and some devices, brainwave-based emotion detection becomes feasible. The IoMT devices are used to capture the brainwaves of a patient in a scenario of smart home. Also, our system involves the analysis of touch behavior as the second layer to enhance the brainwave-based emotion recognition. In the user study with 60 participants, the results indicate the viability and effectiveness of our approach in detecting emotions like comfortable and uncomfortable, which can complement existing emotion-aware healthcare applications and mechanisms.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Peter M. H. Heegaard; Michael Sturek; Mouhamad Alloosh; Graham J. Belsham;
    Country: Denmark

    The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2 has created an urgent need for animal models to enable study of basic infection and disease mechanisms and for development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Most research on animal models for COVID-19 has been directed toward rodents, transgenic rodents, and non-human primates. The primary focus has been on the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is a host cell receptor for SARS-CoV-2. Among investigated species, irrespective of ACE2 spike protein binding, only mild (or no) disease has occurred following infection with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that ACE2 may be necessary for infection but is not sufficient to determine the outcome of infection. The common trait of all species investigated as COVID models is their healthy status prior to virus challenge. In contrast, the vast majority of severe COVID-19 cases occur in people with chronic comorbidities such as diabetes, obesity, and/or cardiovascular disease. Healthy pigs express ACE2 protein that binds the viral spike protein but they are not susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2. However, certain pig breeds, such as the Ossabaw pig, can reproducibly be made obese and show most aspects of the metabolic syndrome, thus resembling the more than 80% of the critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals. We urge considering infection with porcine respiratory coronavirus of metabolic syndrome pigs, such as the obese Ossabaw pig, as a highly relevant animal model of severe COVID-19.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Global Burden of Disease 2019 Cancer Collaboration; Kocarnik JM; Compton K; Dean FE; Fu W; Gaw BL; Harvey JD; Henrikson HJ; Lu D; Pennini A; +190 more
    Publisher: American Medical Association
    Countries: Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Denmark, Poland, Qatar, United Kingdom, Australia

    The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic Index (SDI) quintiles from 2010 to 2019. The GBD 2019 estimation methods were used to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2019 and over the past decade. Estimates are also provided by quintiles of the SDI, a composite measure of educational attainment, income per capita, and total fertility rate for those younger than 25 years. Estimates include 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). In 2019, there were an estimated 23.6 million (95% UI, 22.2-24.9 million) new cancer cases (17.2 million when excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) and 10.0 million (95% UI, 9.36-10.6 million) cancer deaths globally, with an estimated 250 million (235-264 million) DALYs due to cancer. Since 2010, these represented a 26.3% (95% UI, 20.3%-32.3%) increase in new cases, a 20.9% (95% UI, 14.2%-27.6%) increase in deaths, and a 16.0% (95% UI, 9.3%-22.8%) increase in DALYs. Among 22 groups of diseases and injuries in the GBD 2019 study, cancer was second only to cardiovascular diseases for the number of deaths, years of life lost, and DALYs globally in 2019. Cancer burden differed across SDI quintiles. The proportion of years lived with disability that contributed to DALYs increased with SDI, ranging from 1.4% (1.1%-1.8%) in the low SDI quintile to 5.7% (4.2%-7.1%) in the high SDI quintile. While the high SDI quintile had the highest number of new cases in 2019, the middle SDI quintile had the highest number of cancer deaths and DALYs. From 2010 to 2019, the largest percentage increase in the numbers of cases and deaths occurred in the low and low-middle SDI quintiles. The results of this systematic analysis suggest that the global burden of cancer is substantial and growing, with burden differing by SDI. These results provide comprehensive and comparable estimates that can potentially inform efforts toward equitable cancer control around the world. Funding/Support: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. Dr Aljunid acknowledges the Department of Health Policy and Management of Kuwait University and the International Centre for Casemix and Clinical Coding, National University of Malaysia for the approval and support to participate in this research project. Dr Bhaskar acknowledges institutional support from the NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Health Pathology. Dr Bärnighausen was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Alexander von Humboldt Professor award, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Dr Braithwaite acknowledges funding from the National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute. Dr Conde acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council ERC Starting Grant agreement No 848325. Dr Costa acknowledges her grant (SFRH/BHD/110001/2015), received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP under the Norma Transitória grant DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006. Dr Ghith acknowledges support from a grant from Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF16OC0021856). Dr Glasbey is supported by a National Institute of Health Research Doctoral Research Fellowship. Dr Vivek Kumar Gupta acknowledges funding support from National Health and Medical Research Council Australia. Dr Haque thanks Jazan University, Saudi Arabia for providing access to the Saudi Digital Library for this research study. Drs Herteliu, Pana, and Ausloos are partially supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNDS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0084. Dr Hugo received support from the Higher Education Improvement Coordination of the Brazilian Ministry of Education for a sabbatical period at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, between September 2019 and August 2020. Dr Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam acknowledges funding by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Fellowship and National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship. Dr Jakovljevic acknowledges support through grant OI 175014 of the Ministry of Education Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Dr Katikireddi acknowledges funding from a NHS Research Scotland Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU17). Dr Md Nuruzzaman Khan acknowledges the support of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Bangladesh. Dr Yun Jin Kim was supported by the Research Management Centre, Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUMRF/2020-C6/ITCM/0004). Dr Koulmane Laxminarayana acknowledges institutional support from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Dr Landires is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigación, which is supported by Panama’s Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. Dr Loureiro was supported by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under the Scientific Employment Stimulus–Institutional Call (CEECINST/00049/2018). Dr Molokhia is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Center at Guy’s and St Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust and King’s College London. Dr Moosavi appreciates NIGEB's support. Dr Pati acknowledges support from the SIAN Institute, Association for Biodiversity Conservation & Research. Dr Rakovac acknowledges a grant from the government of the Russian Federation in the context of World Health Organization Noncommunicable Diseases Office. Dr Samy was supported by a fellowship from the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. Dr Sheikh acknowledges support from Health Data Research UK. Drs Adithi Shetty and Unnikrishnan acknowledge support given by Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Dr Pavanchand H. Shetty acknowledges Manipal Academy of Higher Education for their research support. Dr Diego Augusto Santos Silva was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil Finance Code 001 and is supported in part by CNPq (302028/2018-8). Dr Zhu acknowledges the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant RP210042.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Melcher, Ulrich; Rasmussen, Thomas Bruun; Boniotti, Maria Beatrice; Papetti, Alice; Grasland, Béatrice; Frossard, Jean-Pierre; Dastjerdi, Akbar; Hulst, Marcel; Hanke, Dennis; Pohlmann, Anne; +7 more
    Publisher: Public Library of Science
    Countries: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark
    Project: EC | COMPARE (643476)

    Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus, strain CV777, was initially characterized in 1978 as the causative agent of a disease first identified in the UK in 1971. This coronavirus has been widely distributed among laboratories and has been passaged both within pigs and in cell culture. To determine the variability between different stocks of the PEDV strain CV777, sequencing of the full-length genome (ca. 28kb) has been performed in 6 different laboratories, using different protocols. Not surprisingly, each of the different full genome sequences were distinct from each other and from the reference sequence (Accession number AF353511) but they are >99% identical. Unique and shared differences between sequences were identified. The coding region for the surface-exposed spike protein showed the highest proportion of variability including both point mutations and small deletions. The predicted expression of the ORF3 gene product was more dramatically affected in three different variants of this virus through either loss of the initiation codon or gain of a premature termination codon. The genome of one isolate had a substantially rearranged 5´-terminal sequence. This rearrangement was validated through the analysis of sub-genomic mRNAs from infected cells. It is clearly important to know the features of the specific sample of CV777 being used for experimental studies.

  • Publication . Part of book or chapter of book . 2021
    Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Christiansen, Lars;
    Country: Denmark

    In 2021, the global COVID-19 pandemic entered its second year. While encouraging trends are emerging, including the unprecedented development and roll-out of vaccines in most industrialized countries, the pandemic continues to pose severe challenges to human health, create economic turmoil and impose rolling restrictions on daily life in most parts of the world. Climate change, in the meantime, continues its unrelenting progress towards a warmer, more unpredictable future, riven by extreme events and trends, as starkly documented in the recent Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in August 2021 (IPCC 2021). The situation is also reflected in the everincreasing risks of floods, droughts, storms and heat waves. Recent examples include the heat dome in thePacific northwest of the United States of America and Canada towards the end of June 2021, which saw the latter break its national temperature record three days in a row and by a total of 4.6°C (World Meteorological Organization 2021), and the severe flooding events in western Europe and the Province of Henan in China in July 2021. The recent AR6 report also showed that even under the most optimistic emissions scenarios that deliver net-zero by around 2050, global warming will continue in the short to medium term, peaking above 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. All this makes the global imperative of adaptation more urgent than ever before.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Choudhary, Arjun; Choudhary, Gaurav; Pareek, Kapil; Kunndra, Chetanya; Luthra, Jatin; Dragoni, Nicola;
    Country: Denmark

    In 2019, a virus infection, COVID-19, traveled across the oceans, gained foothold in many countries, and started infecting the citizens of those countries. Soon, this virus was labeled a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization and was subsequently dubbed the COVID-19 virus. With the virus spreading across the globe, countries started going into lockdowns to curb the spread of the infection. The world came to a halt as people were asked not to leave their homes, offices, and institutions were forcefully closed. This scenario was entirely unexpected for most countries, institutions, and indi-viduals. Amid these lockdowns, people started flocking towards the virtual world. This pandemic showed us that things that were supposed to be conducted physically were now being conducted on-line. Work-from-home (WFH) and study-from-home (SFH) terms and culture came into existence to ensure continuity of services. While the world was upside down and was trying to understand these new dynamics, cybercriminals took advantage of the chaos and carried out the rampant cyber crime on already suffering people and organizations. Cybercriminals known to monetize any recent system changes took this as a golden opportunity and were ready with their new modus operandi during this pandemic. In this survey paper, we have assessed and classified cyber crimes committed during the pandemic across the world. During this period, Malware attacks, Data breaches, Banking frauds, Job frauds, etc., were common. To prevent rampant cyber crimes in such situations, we have also discussed future generation solutions to tackle such issues so that critical systems and procedural checks must be in place.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Peter Kamp Busk; Thomas Birk Kristiansen; Allan Peter Engsig-Karup;
    Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Country: Denmark

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, Denmark has pursued a mass testing strategy culminating in the testing of 12.167 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants per day during the spring of 2021. The strategy included free access to COVID-19 testing, and since 2021, compulsory documentation for negative tests or vaccination has been required for access to workplace, educational institutions, restaurants, and many other places. Testing and subsequent isolation if testing was positive were voluntary. The present study provides an analysis of whether testing frequency in Denmark showed any correlation to hospitalizations throughout the relevant stages of the pandemic. Mass testing was found not to correlate significantly with the number of hospitalizations during the pandemic. Interestingly, during the highest level of testing in spring 2021 the fraction of positive tests increased slightly thus, the Danish mass testing strategy, at its best, failed to reduce the prevalence of COVID-19. Furthermore, the relationship between positives in antigen testing and in rt-PCR testing indicated that many patients were not tested early in their infection when the risk of transmission was at the highest. In conclusion, the Danish mass testing strategy for COVID-19 does not appear to have a detectable correlation to the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

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The following results are related to COVID-19. Are you interested to view more results? Visit OpenAIRE - Explore.
137 Research products, page 1 of 14
  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Randewijk, Peter Jan;
    Publisher: European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI)
    Country: Denmark

    A brand new, state-of-the-art Microgrid Laboratory Setup was built at the Technical University of Denmark’s (DTU) Ballerup campus to aid with practical, hands-on teaching in the field of power system engineering. The primary focus of the Microgrid Setup is to closely emulate the behaviour of thermal power plants, e.g. emergency power plants, modern distributed combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) and combined heat and power (CHP) plants, especially with regard to synchronous generator control. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional requirement came to the fore, in that this Microgrid Setup should also be fully accessible via the web. The design was broadened to include remote, hands-on and flexible experimentation [1], in order for student groups to engage in remote collaborative learning [2].

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Tang, Julian W.; Bahnfleth, William P.; Bluyssen, Philomena M.; Buonanno, Giorgio; Jimenez, Jose L.; Kurnitski, Jarek; Li, Yuguo; Miller, Shelly; Sekhar, Chandra; Morawska, Lidia; +7 more
    Countries: Denmark, United Kingdom

    The Covid-19 pandemic has caused untold disruption and enhanced mortality rates around the world. Understanding the mechanisms for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is key to preventing further spread but there is confusion over the meaning of “airborne” whenever transmission is discussed. Scientific ambivalence originates from evidence published many years ago, which has generated mythological beliefs that obscure current thinking. This article gathers together and explores some of the most commonly held dogmas on airborne transmission in order to stimulate revision of the science in the light of current evidence. Six ‘myths’ are presented, explained, and ultimately refuted on the basis of recently published papers and expert opinion from previous work related to similar viruses. There is little doubt that SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via a range of airborne particle sizes subject to all the usual ventilation parameters and human behaviour. Experts from specialties encompassing aerosol studies, ventilation, engineering, physics, virology and clinical medicine have joined together to present this review, in order to consolidate the evidence for airborne transmission mechanisms and offer justification for modern strategies for prevention and control of Covid-19 in healthcare and community.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Bjorgvinsdottir, Unnur Jona; Carstensen, Laura Stentoft; Colliander, Anna; Jaehger, Ditte Elisabeth; Veiga, Gael Clergeaud; Halldorsdottir, Holmfriour Rosa; Jorgensen, Matilde Smaerup; Christensen, Esben; Vangsgaard, Sara; Koukos, Aristeidis; +3 more
    Country: Denmark

    Background Therapeutic cancer vaccines represent an intriguing approach to cancer immunotherapy and they have been widely explored for the last decade. As opposed to standard modalities, such as surgery and chemotherapy, an effective vaccine-based immune response may provide protection against metastatic disease. Peptide based vaccines can elicit a highly targeted immune response and include a simple, fast and cost-effective production due to recent developments in solid phase peptide synthesis. Recent development within the field of COVID-19 vaccines has highlighted the use of lipid nanoparticles as an effective drug delivery system for vaccination. Incorporation of peptide antigens into engineered micro- and nanoparticles enables induction of a potent T cell response, partly attributed to prolonged and improved antigen presentation by dendritic cells after particle internalization. Peptide-based vaccines are often based on delivery of high-affinity T cell model epitopes. However, the therapeutic relevance of vaccination with low-affinity epitopes is gaining increasing support following the observation that high-affinity epitopes can promote T cell exhaustion resulting from excessive T cell receptor stimulation. Here, we characterize and evaluate a novel lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine platform that is suited for delivery of both high- and low-affinity epitopes in the setting of therapeutic cancer vaccination.Methods LNPs were formulated to carry high- or low-affinity peptide epitopes from Ovalbumin (OVA) in conjunction with the TLR7 agonist 1V270. The peptides were anchored to the surface of the LNPs via a reducible DSPE-PEG2000 linker system. The therapeutic vaccine platform was evaluated in vivo both as a monotherapy and in combination with adoptive transfer of OT-I T cells in the syngeneic B16-OVA murine melanoma model.Results The LNP vaccine promotes efficient antigen-release and ensures high, continuous antigen-presentation by antigen-presenting cells. While the LNPs can be administered via multiple routes, intratumoral vaccination favors enhanced particle uptake in dendritic cells in the tumor. Formulated with either high- or low-affinity epitopes, intratumorally delivered vaccine particles promote superior tumor-infiltration of adoptively transferred T cells, which translates into potent anti-tumor efficacy in vivo. Finally, we show that vaccination with both CD8+ and CD4+ epitopes can delay tumor growth and prolong survival in an antigen-dependent manner.Conclusions This study presents a versatile and multi-purpose LNP vaccine platform that ensures effective delivery of high- and low-affinity epitopes. Intratumoral administration promotes vaccine particle uptake by intratumoral dendritic cells, which is followed by T cell infiltration and anti-tumor efficacy in vivo.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Weizhi Meng; Yong Cai; Laurence T. Yang; Wei-Yang Chiu;
    Country: Denmark

    Driven by an increasing number of connected medical devices, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), as an application of Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare, is developed to help collect, analyze, and transmit medical data. During the outbreak of a pandemic like COVID-19, IoMT can be useful to monitor the status of patients and detect main symptoms remotely, by using various smart sensors. However, due to the lack of emotional care in the current IoMT, it is still a challenge to reach an efficient medical process. Especially under COVID-19, there is a need to monitor emotional status among particular people like the elderly. In this work, we propose an emotion-aware healthcare monitoring system in IoMT, based on brainwaves. With the fast development of electroencephalography (EEG) sensors in current headsets and some devices, brainwave-based emotion detection becomes feasible. The IoMT devices are used to capture the brainwaves of a patient in a scenario of smart home. Also, our system involves the analysis of touch behavior as the second layer to enhance the brainwave-based emotion recognition. In the user study with 60 participants, the results indicate the viability and effectiveness of our approach in detecting emotions like comfortable and uncomfortable, which can complement existing emotion-aware healthcare applications and mechanisms.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Peter M. H. Heegaard; Michael Sturek; Mouhamad Alloosh; Graham J. Belsham;
    Country: Denmark

    The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2 has created an urgent need for animal models to enable study of basic infection and disease mechanisms and for development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Most research on animal models for COVID-19 has been directed toward rodents, transgenic rodents, and non-human primates. The primary focus has been on the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is a host cell receptor for SARS-CoV-2. Among investigated species, irrespective of ACE2 spike protein binding, only mild (or no) disease has occurred following infection with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that ACE2 may be necessary for infection but is not sufficient to determine the outcome of infection. The common trait of all species investigated as COVID models is their healthy status prior to virus challenge. In contrast, the vast majority of severe COVID-19 cases occur in people with chronic comorbidities such as diabetes, obesity, and/or cardiovascular disease. Healthy pigs express ACE2 protein that binds the viral spike protein but they are not susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2. However, certain pig breeds, such as the Ossabaw pig, can reproducibly be made obese and show most aspects of the metabolic syndrome, thus resembling the more than 80% of the critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals. We urge considering infection with porcine respiratory coronavirus of metabolic syndrome pigs, such as the obese Ossabaw pig, as a highly relevant animal model of severe COVID-19.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Global Burden of Disease 2019 Cancer Collaboration; Kocarnik JM; Compton K; Dean FE; Fu W; Gaw BL; Harvey JD; Henrikson HJ; Lu D; Pennini A; +190 more
    Publisher: American Medical Association
    Countries: Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Denmark, Poland, Qatar, United Kingdom, Australia

    The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic Index (SDI) quintiles from 2010 to 2019. The GBD 2019 estimation methods were used to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2019 and over the past decade. Estimates are also provided by quintiles of the SDI, a composite measure of educational attainment, income per capita, and total fertility rate for those younger than 25 years. Estimates include 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). In 2019, there were an estimated 23.6 million (95% UI, 22.2-24.9 million) new cancer cases (17.2 million when excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) and 10.0 million (95% UI, 9.36-10.6 million) cancer deaths globally, with an estimated 250 million (235-264 million) DALYs due to cancer. Since 2010, these represented a 26.3% (95% UI, 20.3%-32.3%) increase in new cases, a 20.9% (95% UI, 14.2%-27.6%) increase in deaths, and a 16.0% (95% UI, 9.3%-22.8%) increase in DALYs. Among 22 groups of diseases and injuries in the GBD 2019 study, cancer was second only to cardiovascular diseases for the number of deaths, years of life lost, and DALYs globally in 2019. Cancer burden differed across SDI quintiles. The proportion of years lived with disability that contributed to DALYs increased with SDI, ranging from 1.4% (1.1%-1.8%) in the low SDI quintile to 5.7% (4.2%-7.1%) in the high SDI quintile. While the high SDI quintile had the highest number of new cases in 2019, the middle SDI quintile had the highest number of cancer deaths and DALYs. From 2010 to 2019, the largest percentage increase in the numbers of cases and deaths occurred in the low and low-middle SDI quintiles. The results of this systematic analysis suggest that the global burden of cancer is substantial and growing, with burden differing by SDI. These results provide comprehensive and comparable estimates that can potentially inform efforts toward equitable cancer control around the world. Funding/Support: The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. Dr Aljunid acknowledges the Department of Health Policy and Management of Kuwait University and the International Centre for Casemix and Clinical Coding, National University of Malaysia for the approval and support to participate in this research project. Dr Bhaskar acknowledges institutional support from the NSW Ministry of Health and NSW Health Pathology. Dr Bärnighausen was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Alexander von Humboldt Professor award, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Dr Braithwaite acknowledges funding from the National Institutes of Health/ National Cancer Institute. Dr Conde acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council ERC Starting Grant agreement No 848325. Dr Costa acknowledges her grant (SFRH/BHD/110001/2015), received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, IP under the Norma Transitória grant DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006. Dr Ghith acknowledges support from a grant from Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF16OC0021856). Dr Glasbey is supported by a National Institute of Health Research Doctoral Research Fellowship. Dr Vivek Kumar Gupta acknowledges funding support from National Health and Medical Research Council Australia. Dr Haque thanks Jazan University, Saudi Arabia for providing access to the Saudi Digital Library for this research study. Drs Herteliu, Pana, and Ausloos are partially supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNDS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0084. Dr Hugo received support from the Higher Education Improvement Coordination of the Brazilian Ministry of Education for a sabbatical period at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, between September 2019 and August 2020. Dr Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam acknowledges funding by a National Heart Foundation of Australia Fellowship and National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship. Dr Jakovljevic acknowledges support through grant OI 175014 of the Ministry of Education Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Dr Katikireddi acknowledges funding from a NHS Research Scotland Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU17). Dr Md Nuruzzaman Khan acknowledges the support of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Bangladesh. Dr Yun Jin Kim was supported by the Research Management Centre, Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUMRF/2020-C6/ITCM/0004). Dr Koulmane Laxminarayana acknowledges institutional support from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Dr Landires is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigación, which is supported by Panama’s Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. Dr Loureiro was supported by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia under the Scientific Employment Stimulus–Institutional Call (CEECINST/00049/2018). Dr Molokhia is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Center at Guy’s and St Thomas’ National Health Service Foundation Trust and King’s College London. Dr Moosavi appreciates NIGEB's support. Dr Pati acknowledges support from the SIAN Institute, Association for Biodiversity Conservation & Research. Dr Rakovac acknowledges a grant from the government of the Russian Federation in the context of World Health Organization Noncommunicable Diseases Office. Dr Samy was supported by a fellowship from the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. Dr Sheikh acknowledges support from Health Data Research UK. Drs Adithi Shetty and Unnikrishnan acknowledge support given by Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Dr Pavanchand H. Shetty acknowledges Manipal Academy of Higher Education for their research support. Dr Diego Augusto Santos Silva was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil Finance Code 001 and is supported in part by CNPq (302028/2018-8). Dr Zhu acknowledges the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas grant RP210042.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Melcher, Ulrich; Rasmussen, Thomas Bruun; Boniotti, Maria Beatrice; Papetti, Alice; Grasland, Béatrice; Frossard, Jean-Pierre; Dastjerdi, Akbar; Hulst, Marcel; Hanke, Dennis; Pohlmann, Anne; +7 more
    Publisher: Public Library of Science
    Countries: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark
    Project: EC | COMPARE (643476)

    Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus, strain CV777, was initially characterized in 1978 as the causative agent of a disease first identified in the UK in 1971. This coronavirus has been widely distributed among laboratories and has been passaged both within pigs and in cell culture. To determine the variability between different stocks of the PEDV strain CV777, sequencing of the full-length genome (ca. 28kb) has been performed in 6 different laboratories, using different protocols. Not surprisingly, each of the different full genome sequences were distinct from each other and from the reference sequence (Accession number AF353511) but they are >99% identical. Unique and shared differences between sequences were identified. The coding region for the surface-exposed spike protein showed the highest proportion of variability including both point mutations and small deletions. The predicted expression of the ORF3 gene product was more dramatically affected in three different variants of this virus through either loss of the initiation codon or gain of a premature termination codon. The genome of one isolate had a substantially rearranged 5´-terminal sequence. This rearrangement was validated through the analysis of sub-genomic mRNAs from infected cells. It is clearly important to know the features of the specific sample of CV777 being used for experimental studies.

  • Publication . Part of book or chapter of book . 2021
    Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Christiansen, Lars;
    Country: Denmark

    In 2021, the global COVID-19 pandemic entered its second year. While encouraging trends are emerging, including the unprecedented development and roll-out of vaccines in most industrialized countries, the pandemic continues to pose severe challenges to human health, create economic turmoil and impose rolling restrictions on daily life in most parts of the world. Climate change, in the meantime, continues its unrelenting progress towards a warmer, more unpredictable future, riven by extreme events and trends, as starkly documented in the recent Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in August 2021 (IPCC 2021). The situation is also reflected in the everincreasing risks of floods, droughts, storms and heat waves. Recent examples include the heat dome in thePacific northwest of the United States of America and Canada towards the end of June 2021, which saw the latter break its national temperature record three days in a row and by a total of 4.6°C (World Meteorological Organization 2021), and the severe flooding events in western Europe and the Province of Henan in China in July 2021. The recent AR6 report also showed that even under the most optimistic emissions scenarios that deliver net-zero by around 2050, global warming will continue in the short to medium term, peaking above 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. All this makes the global imperative of adaptation more urgent than ever before.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Choudhary, Arjun; Choudhary, Gaurav; Pareek, Kapil; Kunndra, Chetanya; Luthra, Jatin; Dragoni, Nicola;
    Country: Denmark

    In 2019, a virus infection, COVID-19, traveled across the oceans, gained foothold in many countries, and started infecting the citizens of those countries. Soon, this virus was labeled a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization and was subsequently dubbed the COVID-19 virus. With the virus spreading across the globe, countries started going into lockdowns to curb the spread of the infection. The world came to a halt as people were asked not to leave their homes, offices, and institutions were forcefully closed. This scenario was entirely unexpected for most countries, institutions, and indi-viduals. Amid these lockdowns, people started flocking towards the virtual world. This pandemic showed us that things that were supposed to be conducted physically were now being conducted on-line. Work-from-home (WFH) and study-from-home (SFH) terms and culture came into existence to ensure continuity of services. While the world was upside down and was trying to understand these new dynamics, cybercriminals took advantage of the chaos and carried out the rampant cyber crime on already suffering people and organizations. Cybercriminals known to monetize any recent system changes took this as a golden opportunity and were ready with their new modus operandi during this pandemic. In this survey paper, we have assessed and classified cyber crimes committed during the pandemic across the world. During this period, Malware attacks, Data breaches, Banking frauds, Job frauds, etc., were common. To prevent rampant cyber crimes in such situations, we have also discussed future generation solutions to tackle such issues so that critical systems and procedural checks must be in place.

  • Open Access English
    Authors: 
    Peter Kamp Busk; Thomas Birk Kristiansen; Allan Peter Engsig-Karup;
    Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Country: Denmark

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, Denmark has pursued a mass testing strategy culminating in the testing of 12.167 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants per day during the spring of 2021. The strategy included free access to COVID-19 testing, and since 2021, compulsory documentation for negative tests or vaccination has been required for access to workplace, educational institutions, restaurants, and many other places. Testing and subsequent isolation if testing was positive were voluntary. The present study provides an analysis of whether testing frequency in Denmark showed any correlation to hospitalizations throughout the relevant stages of the pandemic. Mass testing was found not to correlate significantly with the number of hospitalizations during the pandemic. Interestingly, during the highest level of testing in spring 2021 the fraction of positive tests increased slightly thus, the Danish mass testing strategy, at its best, failed to reduce the prevalence of COVID-19. Furthermore, the relationship between positives in antigen testing and in rt-PCR testing indicated that many patients were not tested early in their infection when the risk of transmission was at the highest. In conclusion, the Danish mass testing strategy for COVID-19 does not appear to have a detectable correlation to the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19.