Effects of Environmental Factors on Severity and Mortality of COVID-19.

Most respiratory viruses show pronounced seasonality, but for SARS-CoV-2, this still needs to be documented. We examined the disease progression of COVID-19 in 6,914 patients admitted to hospitals in Europe and China. In addition, we evaluated progress of disease symptoms in 37,187 individuals reporting symptoms into the COVID Symptom Study application.

Cardiac myocyte β3-adrenergic receptors prevent myocardial fibrosis by modulating oxidant stress-dependent paracrine signaling.

Aims: Human and mouse cardiac beta3-adrenergic receptors (beta3AR) exert antipathetic effects to those of beta1-2AR stimulation. We examined their role in modulating myocardial remodelling, particularly fibrosis in response to haemodynamic stress.

Methods And Results: Mice with cardiac myocyte-specific expression of beta3AR (ADRB3-tg) or tamoxifen-inducible homozygous deletion (c-Adrb3-ko, with loxP-targeted Adrb3) were submitted to transaortic constriction.

Enhanced expression of β3-adrenoceptors in cardiac myocytes attenuates neurohormone-induced hypertrophic remodeling through nitric oxide synthase.

Background: β1-2-adrenergic receptors (AR) are key regulators of cardiac contractility and remodeling in response to catecholamines. β3-AR expression is enhanced in diseased human myocardium, but its impact on remodeling is unknown.

Methods And Results: Mice with cardiac myocyte-specific expression of human β3-AR (β3-TG) and wild-type (WT) littermates were used to compare myocardial remodeling in response to isoproterenol (Iso) or Angiotensin II (Ang II).

HMGCoA reductase inhibition reverses myocardial fibrosis and diastolic dysfunction through AMP-activated protein kinase activation in a mouse model of metabolic syndrome.

Aims: The metabolic syndrome (MS) leads to myocardial fibrosis (MF) and diastolic dysfunction. Statins have proven beneficial effects in MS, but their impact on cardiac remodelling is uncertain. We examined the effects and mechanisms of chronic statin treatment on cardiac remodelling, e.

Concerto Pin: a novel concept of cochlear implant fixation.

Objective: The Concerto Pin is a new cochlear implant system, designed by Med-El to require minimally invasive surgery and to allow greater positional flexibility in its fixation on the skull. The aim of this study was to measure the load needed to displace the implant from a human skull.

Study Design: This was a laboratory investigation under controlled conditions at the Department of Anatomy, Histology und Embryology, Innsbruck Medical University.

Insulin receptor substrate-1 and -2 mediate resistance to glucose-induced caspase-3 activation in human neuroblastoma cells.

Hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes causes multiple neuronal complications, e.g., diabetic polyneuropathy, cognitive decline, and embryonic neural crest defects due to increased apoptosis.