Background Rehabilitation outcomes of COVID‐19 patients are unknown. Objective The purpose of this study is to describe COVID‐19 patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation and their rehabilitation outcomes. Methods Retrospective observational cohort study of all inpatients from a rehabilitation hospital between March 1 and September 30, 2020. Inclusion criteria are: ≥18 years of age and admission and discharge within the study time frame. The initial search yielded 920 patients; 896 met the inclusion criteria. Data was derived from the eRehabData database. Subjects were stratified by COVID‐19 status and rehabilitation impairment. Data included age, gender, body mass index (BMI), length of stay (LOS), discharge location, and functional ability measures for self‐care and mobility (FA‐SC, FA‐Mob). Descriptive statistics included age, BMI, gender, LOS, and discharge location. One‐sample t‐tests were used to assess the difference of age, BMI, LOS, FA‐SC, FA‐Mob, and FA efficiency between COVID‐19+ and COVID‐19‐ patients. Results COVID‐19+ patients were younger (59·4 years vs 62·9 years; t(894)= ‐2·05, p=0·04) with a higher mean BMI (32 vs 28; t(894)= 3·51, p<0·01) than COVID‐19‐ patients. COVID‐19+ patients had equivalent or superior improvements in FA‐SC and FA‐Mob, functional change efficiency, and LOS than COVID‐19‐ patients. Comparing Medically Complex patients, those with COVID‐19 had greater FA‐SC and FA‐Mob efficiencies than COVID‐19‐ patients. COVID‐19+ patients had similar rates of return to the community. Conclusions Patients with COVID‐19 who meet the admission criteria for inpatient rehabilitation can benefit from inpatient rehabilitation similarly to their non‐COVID‐19 counterparts with similar rehabilitation‐specific diagnoses. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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This work explored gelatin films incorporated with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and tannic acid as bio-based multifunctional food packaging materials. The effects of nonoxidized tannic acid (nTA), oxidized tannic acid (OTA), and CNC on the physical, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of gelatin films were investigated. Rheological and ultraviolet (UV)−visible measurements showed that gelatin films with nTA and CNC presented a lower chemical cross-linking and more noncovalent intermolecular interactions in comparison with those containing OTA. When compared to the film containing only nTA, the one with nTA and CNC presented substantial increases in the antioxidant capacity (52%), UV barrier (76%), tensile strength (79%), and water vapor barrier (67%) properties of gelatin. This evidence suggested that noncovalent interactions from nTA molecules and CNC play an important role in the modification of gelatin. The gelatin films designed with nTA and CNC also exhibited antimicrobial effects against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Overall, the incorporation of CNC and nTA as active components to gelatin films is a suitable approach for producing sustainable, multifunctional materials for food packaging and other applications.

Mechanisms for the progression of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive breast carcinoma remain unclear. Previously we showed that the transition to invasiveness in the mammary intraepithelial neoplastic outgrowth (MINO) model of DCIS does not correlate with its serial acquisition of genetic mutations. We hypothesized instead that progression to invasiveness depends on a change in the microenvironment and that precancer cells might create a more tumor-permissive microenvironment secondary to changes in glucose uptake and metabolism. Immunostaining for glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) and the hypoxia marker carbonic anhydrase 9 (CAIX) in tumor, normal mammary gland and MINO (precancer) tissue showed differences in expression. The uptake of the fluorescent glucose analog dye, 2-[N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl) amino]-2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-NBDG), reflected differences in the cellular distributions of glucose uptake in normal mammary epithelial cells (nMEC), MINO, and Met1 cancer cells, with a broad distribution in the MINO population. The intracellular pH (pHi) measured using the fluorescent ratio dye 2′,7′-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-155 carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) revealed expected differences between normal and cancer cells (low and high, respectively), and a mixed distribution in the MINO cells, with a subset of cells in the MINO having an increased rate of acidification when proton efflux was inhibited. Invasive tumor cells had a more alkaline baseline pHi with high rates of proton production coupled with higher rates of proton export, compared with nMEC. MINO cells displayed considerable variation in baseline pHi that separated into two distinct populations: MINO high and MINO low. MINO high had a noticeably higher mean acidification rate compared with nMEC, but relatively high baseline pHi similar to tumor cells. MINO low cells also had an increased acidification rate compared with nMEC, but with a more acidic pHi similar to nMEC. These findings demonstrate that MINO is heterogeneous with respect to intracellular pH regulation which may be associated with an acidified regional microenvironment. A change in the pH of the microenvironment might contribute to a tumor-permissive or tumor-promoting progression. We are not aware of any previous work showing that a sub-population of cells in in situ precancer exhibits a higher than normal proton production and export rate.

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