Background:The current 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is rapidly evolving. YouTube has been recognized as a popular source of information in previous disease outbreaks. We analysed the content on YouTube about n-CoV in English and Mandarin languages. MethodsYouTube was searched using the terms '2019 novel coronavirus', 'Wuhan virus' and '武汉病毒' (Mandarin for Wuhan virus) on 1 st and 2 nd February 2020. First 50 videos in each group were analyzed. Videos in other languages, duplicate videos, those without an audio and duration >15 mins were excluded .72 videos in English and 42 in Mandarin were reviewed . 2 reviewers classified the videos as useful, misleading or news based on pre specified criterion. Inter-observer agreement was evaluated with kappa coefficient. Modified DISCERN index for reliability and medical information and content index (MICI) score were used for content analysis .Results . These videos attracted cumulative 21,288,856 views. 67% of English and 50 % Mandarin videos had useful information. The viewership of misleading Mandarin videos was higher than the useful ones. WHO accounted for only 4% of useful videos. Mean DISCERN score for reliability was 3.12/5 and 3.25/5 for English and Mandarin videos respectively.Mean cumulative MICI score of useful videos was low (6.71/25 for English and 6.28/25 for Mandarin).Conclusions YouTube viewership during 2019 n-CoV outbreak is higher than previous outbreaks. The medical content of videos is suboptimal International health agencies are

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Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has led to rising death tolls and stressed healthcare systems, resulting in an unprecedented psychological stress on healthcare workers worldwide. However, the majority of studies only accounted for frontline healthcare workers with direct patient exposure. Aim: This study aims to look at the psychological impact of COVID-19 in a specific, vulnerable and yet hidden group of healthcare workers, namely laboratory healthcare workers who are at high risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus from handling infected patients’ blood samples, in addition to a marked increase in workload. Method: A multicentre study was conducted in Singapore via online questionnaire looking at psychological and physical impact of COVID-19 on laboratory healthcare workers. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Numeric rating scale on fear (NRS) were validated scores used in this study. Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software version 23 (IBM Corp). Results: A total of 122 staffs participated and more than half of the cohort experienced mild to severe fear, anxiety and depression. Increase in depression score was also found to be associated with increased physical exhaustion (OR = 6.1, 95% CI 1.4–29.1, p = .02), loss of appetite (OR = 2.7, 95% CI 1.2–6.0, p = .02), poor sleep quality (OR = 7.5, 95% CI 2.9–19.4, p = .005), and the use of sedative (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.1–13.5, p = .03). Conclusions: Hence, it is imperative that prompt action needs to be taken to address the psychological needs of this vulnerable group of healthcare workers as the pandemic continues.

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An in vitro culture system for direct shoot regeneration from cotyledon explants of rapid-cycling Brassica rapa was developed. Cotyledons from 3-d-old seedlings, when cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 20 ~tM N6-benzyladenine (BA) and 2 ~M a-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), regenerated shoots directly at a frequency of 20%. The addition of 2 ~tM aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) to this medium increased shoot regeneration to 33%, but silver nitrate drastically inhibited shoot regeneration. Shoot regeneration occurred directly, at the petiolar cut ends of cotyledonary explants, between 10 to 17 d in culture. The highest percentage of regeneration (33%) was obtained from 3-d-old seedlings. NAA was the most effective auxin for root induction and development, with 49% of shoots producing roots after 2 wk on medium containing 1.0 p.M NAA. Regenerated plantlets were grown to maturity in pots containing peat moss and vermiculite (hl). These plants were morphologically normal and fertile. With this protocol, over 100 independently derived, flowering Ro plants were obtained from 40 regenerating cotyledonary explants within 40 d after culture initiation.

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