Chinese Expert Consensus on the Nucleic Acid Detection of SARS-CoV-2.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has already become a pandemic wherein the infection's timely diagnosis has proven beneficial to patient treatment and disease control. Nucleic acid detection has been the primary laboratory diagnostic method for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. To ensure laboratory staff safety and quality nucleic acid testing, the Chinese Society of Laboratory Medicine formulated this consensus, based on the Chinese National Recommendations and previous literature for nucleic acid detection.

N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone disrupts intestinal epithelial barrier through triggering apoptosis and collapsing extracellular matrix and tight junction.

Microbes employ autoinducers of quorum sensing (QS) for population communication. Although the autoinducer of Pseudomonas aeruginosa LasI-LasR system, N-(3-oxododecanoyl)- l-homoserine lactone (3OC12), has been reported with deleterious effects on host cells, its biological effects on integrity of the intestinal epithelium and epithelial barrier are still unclear and need further investigation. In the present study, flow cytometry, transcriptome analysis and western blot technology have been adopted to investigate the potential molecular mechanisms of 3OC12 and its structurally similar analogs damage to intestinal epithelial cells.

Divergent Projection Patterns Revealed by Reconstruction of Individual Neurons in Orbitofrontal Cortex.

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is involved in diverse brain functions via its extensive projections to multiple target regions. There is a growing understanding of the overall outputs of the OFC at the population level, but reports of the projection patterns of individual OFC neurons across different cortical layers remain rare. Here, by combining neuronal sparse and bright labeling with a whole-brain florescence imaging system (fMOST), we obtained an uninterrupted three-dimensional whole-brain dataset and achieved the full morphological reconstruction of 25 OFC pyramidal neurons.

Different expression pattern of human cytomegalovirus-encoded microRNAs in circulation from virus latency to reactivation.

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a beta-hersvirinae that has a high latent infection rate worldwide and can cause serious consequences in immunocompromised patients when reactivation; however, the mechanism of how HCMV convert from latent to reactivation has rarely been investigated. In the present study, we aimed to perform a comprehensive analysis of the HCMV-encoded microRNA (miRNA) profile in serum of patients upon HCMV reactivation from latency and to further evaluate its clinical significance for the disease monitoring and preventing usefulness.

Methods: Serum samples from 59 viremia patients and 60 age-gender matched controls were enrolled in this study for screening and validation of different expression of HCMV miRNAs.

High quality N-polar GaN films grown with varied V/III ratios by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy.

We studied the growths and characterizations of N-polar GaN films grown with constant and varied V/III ratios in high-temperature (HT) GaN growth on offcut -plane sapphire substrates by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. It is found that growth with a constantly low V/III ratio resulted in a high crystallinity but a rough surface and a high oxygen concentration, whereas growth with a high V/III ratio led to a smooth surface but a high carbon concentration and a degraded crystallinity. The overall quality of the N-polar GaN epilayer cannot be effectively improved simply by tuning the V/III ratio.

Studies on Carrier Recombination in GaN/AlN Quantum Dots in Nanowires with a Core-Shell Structure.

GaN quantum dots embedded in nanowires have attracted much attention due to their superior optical properties. However, due to the large surface-to-volume ratio of the nanowire, the impacts of surface states are the primary issue responsible for the degradation of internal quantum efficiency (IQE) in heterostructured dot-in-nanowires. In this paper, we investigate the carrier recombination mechanism of GaN/AlN dot-in-nanowires with an in situ grown AlN shell structure.

Spatial heterogeneity of bacterial colonization across different gut segments following inter-species microbiota transplantation.

Background: The microbiota presents a compartmentalized distribution across different gut segments. Hence, the exogenous microbiota from a particular gut segment might only invade its homologous gut location during microbiota transplantation. Feces as the excreted residue contain most of the large-intestinal microbes but lack small-intestinal microbes.

Circulating exosomal small RNAs are promising non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers for gastric cancer.

Dysregulation of small non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is associated with various human diseases including cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the circulating exosomal small RNAs including microRNAs (miRNAs) and P-element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI)-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) as sensitive and specific non-invasive biomarkers for gastric cancer (GC) diagnosis. Serum exosomal small RNA transcriptome was examined using unique molecular identifiers (UMI) small RNA sequencing.

Impact of Fermentable Protein, by Feeding High Protein Diets, on Microbial Composition, Microbial Catabolic Activity, Gut Health and beyond in Pigs.

In pigs, high protein diets have been related to post-weaning diarrhoea, which may be due to the production of protein fermentation metabolites that were shown to have harmful effects on the intestinal epithelium in vitro. In this review, we discussed in vivo effects of protein fermentation on the microbial composition and their protein catabolic activity as well as gut and overall health. The reviewed studies applied different dietary protein levels, which was assumed to result in contrasting fermentable protein levels.

Chemical Reactivity of Supported ZnO Clusters: Undercoordinated Zinc and Oxygen Atoms as Active Sites.

The growth of ZnO clusters supported by ZnO-bilayers on Ag(111) and the interaction of these oxide nanostructures with water have been studied by a multi-technique approach combining temperature-dependent infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS), grazing-emission X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. Our results reveal that the ZnO bilayers exhibiting graphite-like structure are chemically inactive for water dissociation, whereas small ZnO clusters formed on top of these well-defined, yet chemically passive supports show extremely high reactivity - water is dissociated without an apparent activation barrier. Systematic isotopic substitution experiments using H O/D O/D O allow identification of various types of acidic hydroxyl groups.

Integrative Analysis of Energy Partition Patterns and Plasma Metabolomics Profiles of Modern Growing Pigs Raised at Different Ambient Temperatures.

This study explores the energy partition patterns of modern growing pigs at 25 kg and 65 kg raised at gradient-ambient temperatures. It also investigates the underlying changes in plasma under such conditions, based on the integrative analysis of indirect calorimetry and non-target metabolomics profiling. Thirty-six barrows with initial BW of 26.

Sex-Related Differential Whole-Brain Input Atlas of Locus Coeruleus Noradrenaline Neurons.

As the most important organ in our bodies, the brain plays a critical role in deciding sex-related differential features; however, the underlying neural circuitry basis remains unclear. Here, we used a cell-type-specific rabies virus-mediated monosynaptic tracing system to generate a sex differences-related whole-brain input atlas of locus coeruleus noradrenaline (LC-NE) neurons. We developed custom pipelines for brain-wide comparisons of input sources in both sexes with the registration of the whole-brain data set to the Allen Mouse Brain Reference Atlas.

Oat bran and wheat bran impact net energy by shaping microbial communities and fermentation products in pigs fed diets with or without xylanase.

Background: Dietary fiber can be fermented in gut of pigs and the end products of fermentation were short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). The SCFA had positive effects on gut bacteria and host immune system. In addition, SCFA can provide a part of available energy for pigs.

Resistant Maltodextrin Alleviates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Intestinal Inflammatory Injury by Increasing Butyric Acid to Inhibit Proinflammatory Cytokine Levels.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), one kind of intestinal chronic inflammatory disease, is characterized by colonic epithelial barrier injury, overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines, and fewer short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). The present study is aimed at testing the hypothesis that resistant maltodextrin (RM), a soluble dietary fiber produced by starch debranching, alleviated dextran sulfate sodium- (DSS-) induced colitis in mice. Female C57BL/6 mice with or without oral administration of 50 mg/kg RM for 19 days were challenged with 3% DSS in drinking water to induce colitis (from day 14 to day 19).

Peritumoral ductular reaction can be a prognostic factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Peritumoral ductular reaction (DR) was reported to be related to the prognosis of combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Non-mucin-producing intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) which may be derived from small bile duct cells or liver progenitor cells (LPCs) was known to us. However, whether peritumoral DR is also related to non-mucin-producing ICCs remains to be investigated.

Ranibizumab plus fufang xueshuantong capsule versus ranibizumab alone for exudative age-related macular degeneration.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of ranibizumab plus fufang xueshuantong capsule (cFXST) with the efficacy of ranibizumab alone in treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration.

Methods: This prospective, randomized, controlled, pilot study included 38 eyes from 38 patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that were randomly allocated into two cohorts of 19 eyes each: ranibizumab (C) and ranibizumab plus cFXST (C). All patients received three monthly injections of ranibizumab.

Subthermionic field-effect transistors with sub-5 nm gate lengths based on van der Waals ferroelectric heterostructures.

Overcoming the sub-5 nm gate length limit and decreasing the power dissipation are two main objects in the electronics research field. Besides advanced engineering techniques, considering new material systems may be helpful. Here, we demonstrate two-dimensional (2D) subthermionic field-effect transistors (FETs) with sub-5 nm gate lengths based on ferroelectric (FE) van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs).

Surface Refaceting Mechanism on Cubic Ceria.

Polar surfaces of solid oxides are intrinsically unstable and tend to reconstruct due to the diverging electrostatic energy and thus often exhibit unique physical and chemical properties. However, a quantitative description of the restructuring mechanism of these polar surfaces remains challenging. Here we provide an atomic-level picture of the refaceting process that governs the surface polarity compensation of cubic ceria nanoparticles based on the accurate reference data acquired from the well-defined model systems.

Defect Engineering of Copper Paddlewheel-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks of Type NOTT-100: Implementing Truncated Linkers and Its Effect on Catalytic Properties.

A series of new defect-engineered metal-organic frameworks (DEMOFs) were synthesized by framework doping with truncated linkers employing the mixed-linker approach. Two tritopic defective (truncated) linkers, biphenyl-3,3',5-tricarboxylates (L) lacking a ligating group and 5-(5-carboxypyridin-3-yl)isophthalates (L) bearing a weaker interacting ligator site, were integrated into the framework of Cu(BPTC) (NOTT-100, BPTC = biphenyl-3,3',5,5'-tetracarboxylates). Incorporating L into the framework mainly generates missing metal node defects, thereby obtaining dangling COOH groups in the framework.

Short Administration of Combined Prebiotics Improved Microbial Colonization, Gut Barrier, and Growth Performance of Neonatal Piglets.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of short administration with the combination (GMF) of galactooligosaccharides (GOS), milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on microbiota, intestinal barriers, and growth performance of neonatal piglets. Sixteen newborn piglets were divided into two groups: GMF group and CON group; GMF solution (5 mL) and saline (5 mL) were, respectively, administered to piglets in the GMF group and CON group once a day during the first week after birth. The results showed that GMF administration improved the growth performance of neonatal piglets on day 8 and day 21, coupled with the enriched genus on day 8 and the increased genera , , , and on day 21.

Thermal Defect Engineering of Precious Group Metal-Organic Frameworks: A Case Study on Ru/Rh-HKUST-1 Analogues.

A methodology is introduced for controlled postsynthetic thermal defect engineering (TDE) of precious group metal-organic frameworks (PGM-MOFs). The case study is based on the Ru/Rh analogues of the archetypical structure [Cu(BTC)] (HKUST-1; BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate). Quantitative monitoring of the TDE process and extensive characterization of the samples employing a complementary set of analytical and spectroscopic techniques reveal that the compositionally very complex TDE-MOF materials result from the elimination and/or fragmentation of ancillary ligands and/or linkers.

Effects of dietary fibers with different physicochemical properties on fermentation kinetics and microbial composition by fecal inoculum from lactating sows in vitro.

Background: Efficient utilization of dietary fibers (DFs) is important for optimizing feed resource utilization and animal health. The aim of the current study was to assess the effects of DFs with varying physicochemical properties (bulky, viscous, and fermentable) on fermentation kinetics and microbial composition during in vitro fermentation by fecal inoculum from lactating sow. According to the physicochemical properties, three different DFs, lignocellulose (LC), modified cassava starch (MCS) and konjac flour (KF) were selected as bulky fiber, fermentable fiber and viscous fiber respectively.

Transcriptome Differences Suggest Novel Mechanisms for Intrauterine Growth Restriction Mediated Dysfunction in Small Intestine of Neonatal Piglets.

Impaired intestinal function is frequently detected in newborns with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), whereas the mechanism between transcriptome profiles and small intestinal dysfunction is still unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted by using IUGR neonatal piglets to uncover the mechanism underlying intestinal dysfunction. Neonatal piglets with IUGR and normal birth weight (NBW) were sacrificed at birth.

lncRNA RP11-838N2.3 Promoted Cisplatin Resistance in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

The mechanism of RP11-838N2.3 promoting cisplatin resistance in lung adenocarcinoma (LAD) was unclear. The RP11-838N2.