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COVID-19 is a current global health threat caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Emerging evidence indicates that SARS-CoV-2 elicits a dysregulated immune response and a delayed interferons (IFNs) expression in patients, which contribute largely to the viral pathogenesis and development of COVID-19. However, underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here, we report the activation and repression of innate immune response by SARS-CoV-2. We show that SARS-CoV-2 RNA activates the RIG-I-MAVS-dependent IFN signaling pathway. We further uncover that ORF9b immediately accumulates and antagonizes the antiviral type I IFN response during SARS-CoV-2 infection on primary human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells. ORF9b targets the NF-κB essential modulator NEMO and interrupts its K63-linked polyubiquitination upon viral stimulation, thereby inhibiting the canonical IKKα/β/γ-NF-κB signaling and subsequent IFN production. Our findings thus unveil the innate immunosuppression by ORF9b, and provide insights into the host-virus interplay during the early stage of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Purpose To examine how demographic and geographic variations in US populations from 2011 to 2050 will contribute to estimated numbers of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Design Cross-sectional study Methods Prevalence rates from selected population-based studies were used to estimate the number of persons aged 40 years and older with POAG in the US. For calculation, the age-, sex-, race/ethnicity-specific prevalence rates were multiplied by the US census estimates and projections from 2011–2050. Main outcome measures are estimated numbers of persons with POAG in different age, sex and racial/ethnic groups and total and per-capita POAG rates by state. Results In 2011, 2.71 million persons in the US have POAG, with the highest estimated number among populations aged 70–79 years (31%), women (53%), and non-Hispanic white (44%). The largest demographic group is non-Hispanic white women. In 2050, an estimated 7.32 million persons will have POAG; with the highest number among populations aged 70–79 years (32%), women (50%), and Hispanics (50%). The largest demographic group will shift to Hispanic men. During the next 40 years, the highest per capita POAG rates will double in New Mexico, Texas, and Florida. Conclusions Despite the high prevalence of POAG in African Americans and Hispanics, the largest group in the US is currently among older non-Hispanic white women but is expected to shift to Hispanic men over the next few decades. Given this shift, the greatest yield from screening programs is likely to be in those states with high numbers of non-Hispanic white women and Hispanic men.

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The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), has become a significant and urgent threat to the global health. This review provided strong support for CNS infection with SARS‐CoV‐2 and shed light on neurological mechanism underlying the lethality of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Among the published data, only 1.28% COVID‐19 patients who underwent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests were positive to SARS‐CoV‐2 in CSF. However, this does not mean the absence of CNS infection in most COVID‐19 patients, because postmortem studies revealed that some patients with CNS infection showed negative results in CSF tests for SARS‐CoV‐2. Among 20 neuropathological studies reported so far, SARS‐CoV‐2 was detected in the brain of 58 cases in 9 studies, and three studies have provided sufficient details on the CNS infection in COVID‐19 patients. Almost all in vitro and in vivo experiments support the neuroinvasive potential of SARS‐CoV‐2. In infected animals, SARS‐CoV‐2 was found within neurons in different brain areas with a wide spectrum of neuropathology, consistent with the reported clinical symptoms in COVID‐19 patients. Several lines of evidence indicate that SARS‐CoV‐2 used hematopoietic route to enter the CNS. But more evidence supports the trans‐neuronal hypothesis. SARS‐CoV‐2 has been found to invade the brain via the olfactory, gustatory and trigeminal pathways, especially at the early stage of infection. Severe COVID‐19 patients with neurological deficits are at a higher risk of mortality, and only the infected animals showing neurological symptoms became dead, suggesting that neurological involvement may be one cause of death. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Purpose To estimate the prevalence of refractive errors in adult Chinese Americans, and evaluate factors associated with myopia and high myopia. Design A population-based, cross-sectional study. Methods Chinese Americans 50 years and older residing in Monterey Park, California, were recruited. Noncycloplegic automated refraction with supplemental subjective refraction was performed. Myopia, high myopia, hyperopia, and high hyperopia were defined as a spherical equivalent of < −0.5 diopter (D), < −5.0D, > +0.5D, and ≥ +3.0D, respectively. Astigmatism and high astigmatism were defined as a cylinder of > 0.5D and > 2.25D, respectively. Risk factor assessment was guided by a conceptual model. Results Data from 4144 participants were analyzed. The overall prevalence of myopia, high myopia, hyperopia, high hyperopia, astigmatism, and high astigmatism was 35.1% (95% confidence interval, 33.6%–36.6%), 7.4% (6.6%–8.3%), 40.2% (38.7%–41.8%), 2.7% (2.2%–3.3%), 45.6% (44.1%–47.2%), and 3.7% (3.1%–4.3%), respectively. The prevalence of myopia and high myopia was lower among older individuals (Ps < 0.05). Reversed age trends were observed for the other refractive errors (Ps < 0.05). There was no sex difference in the prevalence of refractive errors, except for a higher prevalence of hyperopia among females (P = 0.010). Age, acculturation, education, income, marital status, birth country, history of ocular disease, non-ocular comorbidities, and recent eye exam were associated with prevalence of myopia. All of these factors, except for acculturation, were also associated with high myopia. Conclusions Our data present the first population-based estimates of the prevalence of refractive errors among adult Chinese Americans. Compared with whites, Hispanics, and blacks, Chinese Americans have a higher burden of myopia, high myopia, and astigmatism.

(2020): Viral RNA level, serum antibody responses, and transmission risk in recovered COVID-19 patients with recurrent positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA test results: a population-based observational cohort study, Emerging Microbes & Infections,