Occurrence and clinical correlates of SARS-CoV-2 viremia in two German patient cohorts.

Viremia defined as detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the blood is a potential marker of disease severity and prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Here, we determined the frequency of viremia in serum of two independent COVID-19 patient cohorts within the German National Pandemic Cohort Network (German: tionales andemie horten etzwerk, NAPKON) with diagnostic RT-PCR against SARS-CoV-2. A cross-sectional cohort with 1,122 COVID-19 patients (German: , SUEP) and 299 patients recruited in a high-resolution platform with patients at high risk to develop severe courses (German: , HAP) were tested for viremia.

Subacute thyroiditis - Is it really linked to viral infection? Retrospective hospital patient registry study.

Objective: Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is a painful inflammatory disorder of the thyroid gland, which - after a phase of thyrotoxicosis - leads to transient, or less frequently permanent hypothyroidism. Apart from a strong association with specific HLA alleles, the causes are uncertain. Viral disease has been hypothesised as a trigger, with Enteroviruses, namely Echoviruses and Coxsackieviruses, showing a seasonal distribution that coincides with the incidence of SAT.

Associations of early life body size and pubertal timing with breast density and postmenopausal breast cancer risk: A mediation analysis.

Purpose: Whether breast density mediates associations between early life body size and pubertal timing with postmenopausal breast cancer is underexplored.

Methods: We studied 33,939 Danish women attending the Capital Mammography Screening Program at ages 50-69 years. Early life anthropometry and pubertal timing information came from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register.

Systematic assessment of COVID-19 host genetics using whole genome sequencing data.

Courses of SARS-CoV-2 infections are highly variable, ranging from asymptomatic to lethal COVID-19. Though research has shown that host genetic factors contribute to this variability, cohort-based joint analyses of variants from the entire allelic spectrum in individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections are still lacking. Here, we present the results of whole genome sequencing in 1,220 mainly vaccine-naïve individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, including 827 hospitalized COVID-19 cases.

The simple morphology of the sunfish heart.

The evolutionary conservation of the building plan of the heart suggests this organ is under substantial form-function constraints. Its form varies to such a degree, however, that it questions whether we understand the form-function relations of the heart. A previously published image of the heart of the sunfish (Mola mola, Tetraodontiformes) indicates the presence of an exceptionally simple topology of the chambers.