Pancreatic agenesis and altered m6A methylation in the pancreas of PDX1-mutant cynomolgus macaques.

As an essential transcriptional activator, plays a crucial role in pancreatic development and β-cell function. Mutations in the gene may lead to type 4 maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY4) and neonatal diabetes mellitus. However, the precise mechanisms underlying MODY4 remain elusive due to the paucity of clinical samples and pronounced differences in pancreatic architecture and genomic composition between humans and existing animal models.

Clinical outcomes of doxycycline, azithromycin and chloramphenicol for the treatment of patients with severe scrub typhus.

Background: Previous studies have evaluated treatment efficacy of various antibiotics for patients with mild-to-moderate scrub typhus (ST). However, the efficacy of different antibiotics for treating severe ST remains uncertain.

Methods: A retrospective study of patients with severe ST was undertaken in China.

Decline of onset-to-diagnosis interval and its impacts on clinical outcome of COVID-19 in China: a nation-wide observational study.

Background: To quantitatively assess the impact of the onset-to-diagnosis interval (ODI) on severity and death for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted based on the data on COVID-19 cases of China over the age of 40 years reported through China's National Notifiable Infectious Disease Surveillance System from February 5, 2020 to October 8, 2020. The impacts of ODI on severe rate (SR) and case fatality rate (CFR) were evaluated at individual and population levels, which was further disaggregated by sex, age and geographic origin.

Mapping the viruses belonging to the order Bunyavirales in China.

Background: Viral pathogens belonging to the order Bunyavirales pose a continuous background threat to global health, but the fact remains that they are usually neglected and their distribution is still ambiguously known. We aim to map the geographical distribution of Bunyavirales viruses and assess the environmental suitability and transmission risk of major Bunyavirales viruses in China.

Methods: We assembled data on all Bunyavirales viruses detected in humans, animals and vectors from multiple sources, to update distribution maps of them across China.

Clinical characteristics and risk factors for severe scrub typhus in pediatric and elderly patients.

Background: Scrub typhus (ST) is a life-threatening infectious disease if appropriate treatment is unavailable. Large discrepancy of clinical severity of ST patients was reported among age groups, and the underlying risk factors for severe disease are unclear.

Methods: Clinical and epidemiological data of ST patients were collected in 55 surveillance hospitals located in Guangzhou City, China, from 2012 to 2018.

Ecology of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, 2012-2020: A machine learning modelling analysis.

The ongoing enzootic circulation of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the Middle East and North Africa is increasingly raising the concern about the possibility of its recombination with other human-adapted coronaviruses, particularly the pandemic SARS-CoV-2. We aim to provide an updated picture about ecological niches of MERS-CoV and associated socio-environmental drivers. Based on 356 confirmed MERS cases with animal contact reported to the WHO and 63 records of animal infections collected from the literature as of 30 May 2020, we assessed ecological niches of MERS-CoV using an ensemble model integrating three machine learning algorithms.

Meteorological conditions and nonpharmaceutical interventions jointly determined local transmissibility of COVID-19 in 41 Chinese cities: A retrospective observational study.

Background: Before effective vaccines become widely available, sufficient understanding of the impacts of climate, human movement and non-pharmaceutical interventions on the transmissibility of COVID-19 is needed but still lacking.

Methods: We collected by crowdsourcing a database of 11 003 COVID-19 cases from 305 cities outside Hubei Province from December 31, 2019 to April 27, 2020. We estimated the daily effective reproduction numbers ( ) of COVID-19 in 41 cities where the crowdsourced case data are comparable to the official surveillance data.

Association between fatality rate of COVID-19 and selenium deficiency in China.

Background: COVID-19 has impacted populations around the world, with the fatality rate varying dramatically across countries. Selenium, as one of the important micronutrients implicated in viral infections, was suggested to play roles.

Methods: An ecological study was performed to assess the association between the COVID-19 related fatality and the selenium content both from crops and topsoil, in China.

Household secondary attack rate of COVID-19 and associated determinants in Guangzhou, China: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: As of June 8, 2020, the global reported number of COVID-19 cases had reached more than 7 million with over 400 000 deaths. The household transmissibility of the causative pathogen, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), remains unclear. We aimed to estimate the secondary attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 among household and non-household close contacts in Guangzhou, China, using a statistical transmission model.

Household Secondary Attack Rate of COVID-19 and Associated Determinants.

Background: As of April 2, 2020, the global reported number of COVID-19 cases has crossed over 1 million with more than 55,000 deaths. The household transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen, remains elusive.

Methods: Based on a comprehensive contact-tracing dataset from Guangzhou, we estimated both the population-level effective reproductive number and individual-level secondary attack rate (SAR) in the household setting.

Co-transduction of ribosomal protein L23 enhances the therapeutic efficacy of adenoviral-mediated p53 gene transfer in human gastric cancer.

Induction of murine double minute 2 (MDM2) expression is thought to be a determinant of resistance to p53 gene therapy for cancer. Previous studies have revealed that ribosomal protein L23 (RPL23) inhibits MDM2-mediated p53 degradation through direct binding to MDM2. In addition, ectopically expressed RPL23 was reported to interact with MDM2 in both the nucleus and cytoplasm, by which RPL23 indirectly inhibited MDM2-p53 binding.

MiR-26a regulates cell cycle and anoikis of human esophageal adenocarcinoma cells through Rb1-E2F1 signaling pathway.

Resistance to anoikis, the subtype of apoptosis induced by lack of matrix adhesion, contributes to malignant transformation and development of metastasis. MicroRNAs play key regulatory roles in tumorigenesis and metastasis. In this study, we described that miR-26a, which is usually downregulated in tumor cells, is involved in the acquisition of anoikis-resistance of human esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) cells.