Cognitive decline and poor social relationship in older adults during COVID-19 pandemic: can information and communications technology (ICT) use helps?

Background: To answer whether older adults' cognitive function benefits from ICT use, we (1) examined the relationship between ICT use and cognitive decline during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) explored the potential role of ICT use in mitigating the relationship between loneliness, social isolation, and cognitive decline among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: From February to March 2021, a mail survey was distributed to 1,400 older adults aged 70-89 years old. Responded participants were 1,003 (71.

Lipoprotein Receptors Redundantly Participate in Entry of Hepatitis C Virus.

Scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1) and low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) are known to be involved in entry of hepatitis C virus (HCV), but their precise roles and their interplay are not fully understood. In this study, deficiency of both SR-B1 and LDLR in Huh7 cells was shown to impair the entry of HCV more strongly than deficiency of either SR-B1 or LDLR alone. In addition, exogenous expression of not only SR-B1 and LDLR but also very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) rescued HCV entry in the SR-B1 and LDLR double-knockout cells, suggesting that VLDLR has similar roles in HCV entry.

Production of hepatitis E virus-like particles presenting multiple foreign epitopes by co-infection of recombinant baculoviruses.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes not only endemics via a fecal-oral route but also sporadic cases via zoonotic transmission or blood transfusion. HEV-like particles (HEV-LP) produced by using a baculovirus expression system are considered a candidate for mucosal vaccines for HEV infection. In this study, we attempted to produce a chimeric HEV-LP presenting various foreign epitopes on its surface.

Biological and immunological characteristics of hepatitis E virus-like particles based on the crystal structure.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a causative agent of acute hepatitis. The crystal structure of HEV-like particles (HEV-LP) consisting of capsid protein was determined at 3.5-A resolution.