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The moderating effect of solar radiation on the association between human mobility and COVID-19 infection in Europe.

ABSTRACT: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global pandemic. Some studies have suggested a negative association between sunlight intensity and COVID-19 infection, alluding to the belief that it might be safe to go out on sunny days. This paper examined whether solar radiation mitigated the association between human mobility and COVID-19 infection in Europe using a dynamic panel data model to investigate the effect of human mobility, solar radiation, and their interaction on COVID-19 infection. The results revealed that outgoing mobility was positively correlated and solar radiation was negatively correlated with COVID-19 infection at lag levels of 1, 2, and 3 weeks. The coefficients of the interaction items indicated that solar radiation negatively moderated the relationship between outgoing mobility and the number of daily new confirmed cases at 2- and 3-week lag levels. However, the moderating effect was limited and unable to eliminate the positive effect of outgoing mobility on COVID-19 infection. Thus, these results suggested that solar radiation only weakly mitigated the relationship between human mobility and COVID-19 infection, providing policy implications that mobility should still be restricted on sunny days during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Zhao W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8329906 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:A significantly stronger impact in mortality and morbidity by COVID-19 has been observed in the northern Italian regions compared to the southern ones. The reasons of this geographical pattern might involve several concurrent factors. The main objective of this work is to investigate whether any correlations exist between the spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the different Italian regions and the amount of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation at the Earth's surface. To this purpose, in this environmental ecological study a mixed-effect exponential regression was built to explain the incidence of COVID-19 based on the environmental conditions, and demographic and pathophysiologic factors. Observations and estimates of the cumulative solar UV exposure have been included to quantify the amount of radiation available e.g., for pre-vitamin D3 synthesis or SARS-CoV-2 inactivation by sunlight. The analysis shows a significant correlation (p-value <5 × 10-2) between the response variables (death percentage, incidence of infections and positive tests) and biologically effective solar UV radiation, residents in nursing homes per inhabitant (NHR), air temperature, death percentage due to the most frequent comorbidities. Among all factors, the amount of solar UV radiation is the variable contributing the most to the observed correlation, explaining up to 83.2% of the variance of the COVID-19 affected cases per population. While the statistical outcomes of the study do not directly entail a specific cause-effect relationship, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that solar UV radiation impacted on the development of the infection and on its complications, e.g. through the effect of vitamin D on the immune system or virus inactivation by sunlight. The analytical framework used in this study, based on commonly available data, can be easily replicated in other countries and geographical domains to identify possible correlations between exposure to solar UV radiation and the spread of the pandemic.

Project description:UV radiation (UV) alters secondary metabolism in the skin of Vitis vinifera L. berries, which may affect on the final composition of both, grapes and wines. We compared berry skin transcriptome and phenolic composition between Tempranillo berries grown in the presence or absence of solar UV in a mid-altitude Tempranillo vineyard. By analysing two different ripening degrees, expression of 121 genes was significantly altered. Functional enrichment identified that, principally, secondary metabolism-related transcripts were induced by UV, including VvFLS1, VvGT5 and VvGT6 flavonol biosynthetic genes induction. Concurrently, flavonol accumulation was the most evident impact of UV on the berry skin phenolic composition. Monoterpenoid biosynthetic transcripts were also up-regulated by UV, whereas induction of stilbenoid biosynthetic transcripts and stilbenes accumulation was probably induced by the joint action of UV and other condition under the UV-blocking filter, likely higher temperature. Among regulatory genes, VvMYBF1, VvMYB24 and three bHLH transcription factors were up-regulated by UV. Homologs to Arabidopsis UVR8-dependent UV-B-induced genes were also induced, including VvHY5-1, VvHY5-2 and VvRUP UV-B signalling genes. This suggests that the UV-B-specific signalling pathway is activated in the skin of grapes grown at low-medium altitudes. The biosynthesis and accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds that are appreciated for winemaking were almost specifically triggered, which indicates that viticultural practices increasing solar UV incidence may improve grape features important to wine production. A total of 12 samples were hybridized. Grape skin RNA from berries ripening under a UV-transmitting filter (FUV+) and a UV-blocking filter (FUV-) was compared. Berry skin of two different ripening stages was analysed on each UV treatment. All samples were harvested simultaneously and a NaCl series was used to select the ripening degree in a non-invasive way. Three biological replicates were analyzed for each sample.

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The moderating effect of solar radiation on the association between human mobility and COVID-19 infection in Europe.

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