Effectiveness of Vitamin D Supplements among Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: Results from a Monocentric Matched-Cohort Study

Our study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of Vitamin D3 (VitD3) among patients hospitalized for COVID-19. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the difference in survival rates between patients receiving and not VitD3. The secondary endpoints were to evaluate clinical outcomes, such as needing non-invasive ventilation (NIV), ICU transfer, and laboratory findings (inflammatory parameters). Methods: We conducted a retrospective, monocentric matched-cohort study, including patients attending our ward for COVID-19. Patients were divided into two groups depending on VitD3 administration (Group A) or not (Group B) among patients with low VitD levels (defined as blood levels < 30 ng/mL), which depended on physicians’ judgment. Our internal protocol provides VitD3 100,000 UI/daily for two days. Findings: 58 patients were included in Group A, and 58 in Group B. Patients were matched for age, sex, comorbidities, COVID-19-related symptoms, PaO2/FiO2 ratio, blood exams, and medical treatments. Regarding the principal endpoint, there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in survival rates [Group A vs. Group B = 3 vs. 11 (p = 0.042)]. When considering secondary endpoints, Group A patients were less likely to undergo NIV [Group A vs. Group B = 12 vs. 23 (p = 0.026)] and showed an improvement in almost all inflammatory parameters. Conclusions: The link between VitD3 deficiency and the clinical course of COVID-19 during hospitalization suggests that VitD3 level is a useful prognostic marker. Considering the safety of supplementation and the low cost, VitD3 replacement should be considered among SARS-CoV-2 infected patients needing hospitalization

Predictors of infection, symptoms development, and mortality in people with SARS-CoV-2 living in retirement nursing homes

Introduction Since the start of the pandemic, millions of people have been infected, with thousands of deaths. Many foci worldwide have been identified in retirement nursing homes, with a high number of deaths. Our study aims were to evaluate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the retirement nursing homes, the predictors to develop symptoms, and death. Methods and findings We conducted a retrospective study enrolling all people living in retirement nursing homes (PLRNH), where at least one SARS-CoV-2 infected person was present. Medical and clinical data were collected. Variables were compared with Student's t-test or Pearson chisquare test as appropriate. Uni- and multivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate variables' influence on infection and symptoms development. Cox proportional-hazards model was used to evaluate 30 days mortality predictors, considering death as the dependent variable. We enrolled 382 subjects. The mean age was 81.15±10.97 years, and males were 140(36.7%). At the multivariate analysis, mental disorders, malignancies, and angiotensin II receptor blockers were predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection while having a neurological syndrome was associated with a lower risk. Only half of the people with SARS-CoV-2 infection developed symptoms. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and neurological syndrome were correlated with an increased risk of developing SARS-CoV-2 related symptoms. Fiftysix (21.2%) people with SARS-CoV-2 infection died; of these, 53 died in the first 30 days after the swab's positivity. Significant factors associated with 30-days mortality were male gender, hypokinetic disease, and the presence of fever and dyspnea. Patients' autonomy and early heparin treatment were related to lower mortality risk. Conclusions We evidenced factors associated with infection's risk and death in a setting with high mortality such as retirement nursing homes, that should be carefully considered in the management of PLRNH

Does Angiotensin II receptor blockers increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection? A real-life experience

Objective: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people have been infected with thousands of deaths. Few data regarding factors that increase the risk of infection are available. Our study aimed to evaluate all people living in retirement homes (PLRNH) and identify factors that could increase infection risk in a close community. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective study enrolling all PLRNH, where at least one SARS-CoV-2 infected person was present. Variables were compared with Student's t-test or Pearson chi-square test as appropriate. Uni- and multivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate variables' influence on the infection. Results: We included 452 PLRNH; 144 (31.7%) were male, with a mean age of 82.2±8.6 years. People with a positive swab for SARS-CoV-2 were 306 (67.4%). A significant difference between SARS-CoV-2 infected and not infected was observed in the percentage of those receiving chronic treatment with Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) (18.6% vs. 9.5%, p=0.012). On the contrary, there was no difference in the proportion of those receiving ACE inhibitors (ACE-I) (21.2% vs. 23.6%, p=0.562). At multivariate analysis, people with mental illness and cancer had an increased risk of being infected. Furthermore, receiving ARBs as a chronic treatment was an independent predictor of infection risk [OR 1.95 (95% CI 1.03-3.72) p=0.041]. Conclusions: Our data suggest that, in close communities, such as retirement nursing homes, the receipt of ARBs increased the risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, before changing an important chronic treatment in a fragile population, such as the elderly living in retirement nursing homes, clinicians should carefully evaluate the risk-benefit ratio

Phylogenetic and functional marker genes to study ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms (AOM) in the environment

The oxidation of ammonia plays a significant role in the transformation of fixed nitrogen in the global nitrogen cycle. Autotrophic ammonia oxidation is known in three groups of microorganisms. Aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea convert ammonia into nitrite during nitrification. Anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (anammox) oxidize ammonia using nitrite as electron acceptor and producing atmospheric dinitrogen. The isolation and cultivation of all three groups in the laboratory are quite problematic due to their slow growth rates, poor growth yields, unpredictable lag phases, and sensitivity to certain organic compounds. Culture-independent approaches have contributed importantly to our understanding of the diversity and distribution of these microorganisms in the environment. In this review, we present an overview of approaches that have been used for the molecular study of ammonia oxidizers and discuss their application in different environments

Support for research at TU Delft

Researchers at Dutch institutions of higher education are placing ever-growing demands on the field of computing power, networking services and data storage facilities. Access to a high quality, low threshold ICT infrastructure has become a prerequisite to do research. As such, the need for suitable support in order to simplify access for researchers is growing all the time.Although all universities and research institutions are addressing the issue of research support, each institution is taking an independent approach to the matter. To gain a clearer picture of the different research support options available, SURF approached four institutions: Delft University of Technology(TU Delft), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and the university medical centres in Leiden (LUMC) and Maastricht (MUMC+).Research Suppor

Alternative metrics at Dutch university libraries

The role of a librarian at many universities and research institutions has changed and is still changing. For most libraries a common thread is the knowledge flow and technological innovations in order to support the researchers in augmenting their academic output, academic visibility and impact. A challenge for the Library however, is how to contribute to the increased visibility of the researchers beyond the obvious publication strategy and how to make it measurable. Alternative metrics makes part of these endeavours. When it comes to altmetrics an obvious role of a library is analysis of the market, comparison of the different tools and advice to the end users; to a lesser extent the implementation of altmetrics at an institutional level. Similarly as several Dutch libraries, the TU Delft Library is currently conducting a comparative analysis of the major tools on the market. The Delft library, however, will make a step further by experimenting with the use of different tools on a pilot scale in order to be able to implement alternative metrics at an institutional level and embed it in the research lifecycle. These plans will be presented at the conference. The situation in the rest of the Netherlands may be somewhat different. Other universities in the Netherlands may approach alternative metrics in a different way and have different visions. Up to now no concrete initiatives have been taken to approach alternative metrics centrally - on a national level. TU Delft is conducting a survey to collect the data from the Dutch university libraries on their approach to altmetrics. In the questionnaire the university libraries are asked about their vision with regard to altmetrics, their goals, barriers, implementation plans, and if already set in place - about their workflows and usage statistics. The results of this survey will be presented as well as some thoughts on future steps at the Dutch university libraries.TU Delft LibraryDelft University of Technolog

Building a 'data repository' for heterogenous technical research communities through collaborations

The paper describes the project ‘3TU.Datacentrum’, an initiative of the libraries of the three Dutch Technical Universities. Its aim is to build a data curation facility for the improvement of data management, providing data curation services for data producers of the Technical Universities and enabling data reuse. The libraries initiated this project in their function as information- and knowledge brokers in emerging e-science. Playing a role in the management of research data offers an opportunity to get more thoroughly involved in the scientific process and to interconnect research data with all other sources managed by the libraries. The project builds on the experience from previous TU Delft research (E-Archive and Darelux). Initial interviews with managers and researchers in leading research areas of the Technical Universities were followed by in-depth investigation of the benefits and barriers for data producers. Additional work with research groups in technology- and engineering science confirmed the need for collaboration in data management. Data producers from these heterogeneous research communities identified benefits for data producers in three clusters: quality improvement, increase in research impact and efficiency (saving time on administration). Building the data curation infrastructure and setting up the data librarianship were the primary challenges for the library staff. In collaboration with national and international ‘colleagues’ of the data center the project is currently expanding the data set collection and selecting and developing formal license agreements, guidelines and tools, data citability, as well as selection and usage criteria for long-term access to and preservation of research data. Preliminary conclusions are that while the data curation principle is easily adopted, the data producers will not as easily invest their time in data archiving. Building a data curation facility to meet the diverse needs of heterogeneous research communities requires considerable efforts that can only be realized by (inter)national collaboration between data centers and data users.LibraryDelft University of Technolog