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[Abstract]: In this article we mainly extend a newly introduced deterministic model for the COVID-19 disease to a stochastic setting. More precisely, we incorporated randomness in some coefficients by assuming that they follow a prescribed stochastic dynamics. In this way, the model variables are now represented by stochastic process, that can be simulated by appropriately solving the system of stochastic differential equations. Thus, the model becomes more complete and flexible than the deterministic analogous, as it incorporates additional uncertainties which are present in more realistic situations. In particular, confidence intervals for the main variables and worst case scenarios can be computed.

We study academic integrity in a final exam of a compulsory course with almost 500 undergraduate students at a major Spanish university. Confinement and university closure due to Covid-19 took place by the end of the last lecture week. As a consequence, the usual classroom exam was turned into an unproctored on-line multiple-choice exam without backtracking. We exploit the different orders of exam problems and detailed data with timestamps to study students’ academic integrity. First, taking the average over questions that were part of both earlier and later “rounds”, we find that the number of correct answers to questions in the later round was 7.7% higher than in the earlier round. Second, the average completion time of questions in the later round was 18.1% shorter than in the earlier round. Third, a mere reminder of the university’s code of ethics, which was sent to a subgroup halfway through the exam, did not affect cheating levels. He gratefully acknowledges financial support from AGAUR–Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain (2017-SGR-1359) and the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Spain through grants ECO2017-88130-P and PID2020-114251GB-I00 (funded by MCIN/ AEI, Spain/10.13039/501100011033) and the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D, Spain (Barcelona School of Economics CEX2019-000915-S)He gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through grant PID2021-122919-NB-I00. Peer reviewed

Wastewater-based epidemiology has shown to be a promising and innovative approach to measure a wide variety of illicit drugs that are consumed in the communities. In the same way as for illicit drugs, wastewater-based epidemiology is a promising approach to understand the prevalence of viruses in a community-level. The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created an unprecedented burden on public health and diagnostic laboratories all over the world because of the need for massive laboratory testing. Many studies have shown the applicability of a centralized wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach, where samples are collected at WWTPs. A more recent concept is a decentralized approach for WBE where samples are collected at different points of the sewer system and at polluted water bodies. The second being particularly important in countries where there are insufficient connections from houses to municipal sewage pipelines and thus untreated wastewater is discharged directly in environmental waters. A decentralized approach can be used to focus the value of diagnostic tests in what we call targeted-WBE, by monitoring wastewater in parts of the population where an outbreak is likely to happen, such as student dorms, retirement homes and hospitals. A combination of centralized and decentralized WBE should be considered for an affordable, sustainable, and successful WBE implementation in high-, middle- and low-income countries. Junta de Castilla y León - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (projects CLU 2017-09, UIC315 and VA266P20) Producción Científica

This paper deals with the analysis of the evolution of international trade after COVID-19, examining commodity prices, the shipping industry, and the influence of the cost of bunker fuel. To this end, we use techniques based on fractional integration, fractional cointegration VAR (FCVAR) and wavelet analysis. Monthly data relating to heavy fuel oil prices and the shipping market from October 2011 to September 2021 are used. Using fractional integration in the post-break period, a lack of mean reversion is observed in all cases, which means that, for the commodity prices and shipping market indices, a change in trend will be permanent after COVID-19 unless strong measures are carried out by the authorities. Using wavelet analysis, we conclude that the demand shock represented in the indices mentioned above has led the price of fuel oil since the beginning of the pandemic, and bunker fuel is not relevant in determining the cost of maritime transport. post-print 2426 KB

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused the pandemic disease known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 vaccines were developed at record speed and were authorized approximately a year after the original outbreak. This fast response saved the lives of countless individuals and reduced the disease burden of many more. The experience has served as a reminder of the necessity to implement solid vaccine development platforms and fast production pipelines. Manufacturing vaccines for enveloped viruses, including some SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, often relies on the production of large quantities of viruses in vitro. Thus, speeding up or increasing virus production would expedite vaccine development. With this objective in mind, we established a high throughput screening (HTS) to identify small molecules that enhance or speed up host-virus membrane fusion. Among the HTS hits, we identified that ethynylestradiol augments SARS-CoV-2 fusion activity in both the absence and presence of TMPRSS2. Furthermore, we confirmed that ethynylestradiol can boost the growth of not only SARS-CoV-2 but also Influenza A virus in vitro. A small molecule with these characteristics could be implemented to improve vaccines production. We thank the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2019/065) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (PID2020-119111GB-I00). We thank P. Selvi for excellent technical assistance. O.Z. is funded by grant PID2020-114546RB-I00 from National Research Agency (Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation). This publication was also supported by the European Virus Archive GLOBAL (EVA-GLOBAL) project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement 871029. No

The main objective of this study was to examine the moderating or buffering effect of social support (SS) perceived by university students on the psychological impact of lockdown on mental health. Specifically, a total of 826 participants (622 women) completed an online survey that included standardized measures of anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and irritability (Brief Irritability Test), as well as measures of stressors, perceived SS, and self-perceived change in mental health. The results of hierarchical regression analyses suggest that SS contributes toward attenuating the negative impact of academic stressors, general overload, and interpersonal conflict on the indicators of psychological well-being; however, moderation analysis only confirms the buffering effect for symptoms of anxiety. In conclusion, it is suggested that SS networks need to be strengthened as a basic means of protecting health and well-being during unexpected disasters Publication of this manuscript was supported by Regional Government of Galicia, Programa de Axudas para aConsolidación e Estruturación de Unidades de Investigación Competitivas e outras Accións de Fomento, Refs.ED431C 2018/2 and ED431B 2019/20 SI

Dipeptidyl peptidase 9 (DPP9) is a member of the dipeptidyl peptidase IV family. Inhibition of DPP9 has recently been shown to activate the nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich repeat 1 (NLRP1) inflammasome. NLRP1 is known to bind nucleic acids with high affinity and directly interact with double stranded RNA, which plays a key role in viral replication. DPP9 has also recently emerged as a key gene related to lung-inflammation in critical SARS-CoV-2 infection. Importantly, DPP9 activity is strongly dependent on the oxidative status. Here, we explored the potential role of DPP9 in the gastrointestinal tract. We performed transcriptomics analyses of colon (microarray, n = 37) and jejunal (RNA sequencing, n = 31) biopsies from two independent cohorts as well as plasma metabolomics analyses in two independent cohorts (n = 37 and n = 795). The expression of DPP9 in the jejunum, colon, and blood was significantly associated with circulating biomarkers of oxidative stress (uric acid, bilirubin). It was also associated positively with the expression of transcription factors (NRF-2) and genes (SOD, CAT, GPX) encoding for antioxidant enzymes, but negatively with that of genes (XDH, NOX) and transcription factors (NF-KB) involved in ROS-generating enzymes. Gene co-expression patterns associated with DPP9 identified several genes participating in antiviral pathways in both tissues. Notably, DPP9 expression in the colon and plasma was strongly positively associated with several circulating nucleotide catabolites (hypoxanthine, uric acid, 3-ureidopropionic acid) with important roles in the generation of ROS and viral infection, as well as other metabolites related to oxidative stress (Resolvin D1, glutamate-containing dipeptides). Gene-drug enrichment analyses identified artenimol, puromycin, anisomycin, 3-phenyllactic acid, and linezolid as the most promising drugs targeting these DPP9-associated genes. We have identified a novel potential pathogenic mechanism of viral infection in the digestive tract and promising existing drugs that can be repositioned against viral infection This work was partially supported by Fundació Marató de TV3 research grant number 201612-31 and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, Madrid, Spain) through the project PI20/01090 (co-funded by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). “A way to make Europe”) to J.M.-P. Á.d.C.-I. is funded by Girona Biomedical Research Institute (Girona, Spain) through the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network grant agreement No 859890. M.A.-R. is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Madrid, Spain) through a predoctoral Río Hortega contract CM19/00190 (co-funded by European Regional Development Fund “Investing in your future”). J.M.-P. is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Madrid, Spain) through the Miguel Servet Program CP18/00009 (co-funded by European Regional Development Fund “Investing in your future”)