No abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on the first wave of COVID transmission and fatalities in India. Methods: We collected data on NPIs, using government notifications and news reports, in six major Indian states from March to August 2020, and we matched these with district-level data on COVID related deaths and Google Mobility reports. We used a district fixed effect regression approach to measure the extent to which district-level lockdowns and mobility restrictions helped reduce deaths in 2020. Results: In most states, COVID deaths grew most rapidly only after the initial lockdown was lifted. District-level NPIs were associated with a statistically significantly lower COVID death count in three out of five sample states (district analysis was not possible in Delhi) and in the aggregate. Interventions that were most associated with slowing fatalities were temple closures, retail closures, and curfews. Discussion: Outside of Maharashtra (the first state struck) the first fatality wave appears to have been delayed by the national lockdown. Indias NPIs, however incomplete, were successful in delaying or limiting COVID-19 deaths. Even with incomplete compliance, limiting mass gatherings in face of incipient viral waves may save lives.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in cell to cell signaling pathways. Our goal is to provide a full laboratory guide for students to study gene expression in zebrafish embryos by in situ hybridization. Prior to our study, the laboratory had observed disorganized and shortened cilia in cells that are important for cell signaling in the pronephric duct and neural tube floor plate of the zebrafish embryo. Ciliogenesis depends on a master transcriptional regulator, foxj1a, whose mRNA expression can be monitored through in situ hybridization and microscopic imaging. Knockdown morpholino-injected, control mismatched morpholino-injected, and uninjected embryos were fixed to determine if foxj1a transcription is qualitatively affected by ECM gene knockdown. Our results showed that the knockdown embryos portrayed an inconsistent foxj1a signal strength along the length of the pronephric duct, when compared to analysis of control mismatched and wild-type uninjected embryos. We created this manuscript for other students to observe how ECM gene knockdown can affect foxj1a mRNA expression, but also to give them a guide to the tools they would need to explore their own genes of interest, in zebrafish or in many other organisms and tissues.

How does ethnic violence and subsequent segregation shape children's lives? Using exogenous variation in communal violence due to a Hindu nationalist campaign tour across India, I show that violence displaces Muslims to segregated neighbourhoods. Surprisingly, I find that post-event, Muslim primary education levels are higher in cities that were more susceptible to violence. For cohorts enrolling after the riots, the probability of attaining primary education decreases by 2.3% every 100 kilometres away from the campaign route. I exploit differences in the planned and actual route to show that this is due to residential segregation of communities threatened by violence.

Coronary artery thrombosis is a phenomenon physicians have studied throughout the years. The different risk factors that play a role in the formation of an atherosclerotic plaque leading to coronary artery blockage are vast and can affect the patient significantly if not examined and diagnosed carefully. The objective of this case report is to highlight this unusual occurrence of repeated coronary artery thrombosis. A 54-yearold Caucasian female presented to the emergency department with a one-day history of sharp chest pain in the substernal area that radiated between her shoulder blades and left arm. Despite being on dual antiplatelet therapy, an electrocardiogram (ECG) showed an inferior ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Her medical history was extensive with factor V Leiden deficiency, hyperhomocysteinemia, recurrent deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and a family history of myocardial infarction. The patient was taken to the cardiac catheterization lab based on these characteristics. The patient was diagnosed with a 100% thrombosis in the distal right coronary artery (RCA), which was stented nine months before this current presentation. The patient had been compliant with all her medications from her previous stent placement. A new drug-eluting stent (DES) was inserted, and the patient was placed on prasugrel and apixaban. This was a very interesting topic for a case report due to the time frame of repeat thrombosis in a coronary artery with a DES and the patient's underlying hypercoagulable state. There are few cases of same vessel restenosis post-DES placement. Our case highlights the need for further research into the prevalence of genetic risk factors in coronary artery thrombosis and the need to investigate the efficacy of different anticoagulation therapies in patients with factor V Leiden thrombophilia.