A study of Polish athletes with disabilities highlights the impact of COVID-19 on training –BMC Research Notes

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt in all areas of human life, from the impact on healthcare and the economy to education and the movement of people. The pandemic has also affected many sporting events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo which was due to be hosted in 2020 but was postponed to 2021. With regional and national lockdowns and stay-at homes orders, training schedules for athletes have also been disrupted. To better understand the impacts on athletes with disabilities Piotr Urbański from Poznan University of Physical Education, Poland and colleagues decided to survey 166 athletes who were members of either the Polish Paralympic Committee or the Polish Sports Association for the Disabled’Start. The study found that the athletes were strongly affected by the pandemic and whilst a majority reported training at home, 12% stopped training altogether. Across the group the athletes reduced their training from 9.4h/week to 5.3h/week, highlighting the impact the pandemic has had on these athletes many of whom will be hoping to compete in the Paralympic games in August and September this year.

富血浆的血小板产品可以帮助治疗狗的双侧髋关节骨关节炎 -BMC兽医研究

骨关节炎（OA）是一种影响伴侣动物的常见疾病。在狗中，OA通常会影响髋关节导致动物功能减少和疼痛。大多数治疗方法都有有限的治疗选择，重点是减轻疼痛和改善关节功能，而不是治疗疾病。最近，人们有兴趣使用富含血小板的血浆（PRP）治疗诸如OA之类的肌肉骨骼疾病。葡萄牙国民警卫队的埃沃拉大学，葡萄牙和同事的阿尔维斯（Alves）着手测试PRP用双边髋关节OA治疗警察工作犬的使用。PRP的关节内给药后，团队使用了各种尺度，包括犬短疼痛和犬骨科指数来衡量对治疗的反应。与接受盐水治疗的对照组相比，用PRP治疗的狗在疼痛和功能分数方面有所改善，在研究的随访期间不需要其他药物。该团队得出结论认为，PRP产品可能是狗的髋关节OA的一个很好的治疗选择。

突变体p53通过直接和间接机制影响肿瘤细胞中的染色质 - 可及性 -BMC癌

The transcription factor, p53 encoded by the TP53 is a well characterized tumor suppressor and mutations in the gene sequence can affect its tumor suppressor activity. Some mutations can also result in a gain-of-function oncogenic activity. The effects of mutations on p53 binding to the genome has been well documented, but changes to chromatin accessibility has not been previously characterized. In their study, Bhavya Dhaka and Radhakrishnan Sabarinathan from National Centre for Biological Sciences, India use chromatin accessibility data from the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to identify regions in the genome where chromatin accessibility is altered in tumors with mutant p53. The pair identified 1587 and 984 areas where chromatin accessibility was lost and gained, respectively, in breast cancer and 1143 lost and 640 gained in colon cancer. Surprisingly, less than half the sites identified contained sequence motifs for p53 binding. However, these are regions associated with other transcriptional regulators, suggesting that gain-of-function p53 mutants utilizes both direct and indirect mechanisms to affect chromatin accessibility.

USA National representative survey provides insight into factors affecting inequalities in accessing affordable, healthy food –BMC营养

近年来，已经确定了美国在美国获得高质量和负担得起的食物的不平等现象。这主要是由于食品沙漠的存在 - 在少数民族社区内难以购买负担得起的高质量食品的地理区域。迄今为止，许多研究都集中在使用目录，人口普查数据和/或地理信息系统来评估访问和食品质量。在他们的研究中，来自德克萨斯州A＆M公共卫生学院的Sansom和Hannibal进行了全国代表性的调查，以更好地了解少数团体遇到的动机和努力，以至于到达提供健康食品选择的商店。他们对1612名参与者的调查发现，在选择购买食品的地方时，省钱，拥有丰富的食物（包括有机食品）是少数族裔人口的重要因素。此外，较少的驾驶是一个主要的考虑因素，调查表明，美国各地的少数群体需要驱动更长的白色同行才能到达商店。Sansom和Hannibal的研究突出了需要解决的各种问题，以减少不平等现象。

Inexpensive 3D printing mask frames can prolong the life of N95 and KN95 masks –BMC生物医学工程

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused supply shortages of various forms of personal protective equipment, including N95 and KN95 respirators used by healthcare professionals. This has led to masks being used for prolonged periods of time and in some cases being reused after decontamination procedures. However, the reusability of these masks is hampered by degradation of the fit of the masks. To try to improve the reusability, Malia McAvoy from Harvard Medical School, USA and colleagues set out to develop a mask frame for damaged and/or poor fitting masks. Using inexpensive 3D printing, the team developed a mask frame consisting of two printed side pieces connected by malleable wired links that allowed the user to mould the frame and mask against their face to recreate the tight fit. The frame is then held in place by elastic around the head. The team tested the fit on 45 volunteers with and without the mask frames on four different brands of either N95 or KN95 standard. For volunteers using masks with broken and effective straps an average of 85% passed the fit test, suggesting that the mask frames can prolong the lifespan of the masks.