Spatiotemporal prevalence of COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 variants in Africa.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant public health and socioeconomic crises across Africa; however, the prevalent patterns of COVID-19 and the circulating characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants in the continent remain insufficiently documented.

Methods: In this study, national data on case numbers, infection incidences, mortality rates, the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 variants, and key health indexes were collected from various official and professional sources between January 2020 and December 2023 were analyzed with SaTScan and geographically weighted regression (GWR).

Results: The prevalent profiles and circulating features of SARS-CoV-2 across the African continent, including its five regions and all African countries, were analyzed.

Investigation of Machining Characteristics and Parameter Optimization for Laser-Assisted Milling of CF/PEEK Composites.

Carbon fiber/polyether ether ketone (CF/PEEK) is widely used in aerospace, transportation, and other high-end industries for its light weight, high strength, and recyclability. However, its inherently brittle-ductile two-phase structure presents challenges in processing CF/PEEK. This paper introduces a laser-assisted milling method, wherein four types of CF/PEEK unidirectional plates (0°, 45°, 90°, and 135°) are milled under varying laser powers and spindle speeds.

Study of the Material Removal Mechanism and Surface Damage in Laser-Assisted Milling of CF/PEEK.

Carbon-fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (CF/PEEK) composites are being increasingly used in aerospace, biomedical, and other industries due to their superior mechanical properties. However, CF/PEEK structural components require secondary processing after curing and molding to meet connection and assembly precision requirements. This process, however, often results in defects such as burrs and pits, which significantly compromise the mechanical performance and assembly quality of the structural components.

Z-type heterojunction degradation of tetracycline by 2D g-CN with 3D oxygen vacancy BiWO.

Photocatalytic degradation is a promising strategy for environmental remediation. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) is the most extensively reported metal-free material. Hierarchical flower-shaped BiWO particles were obtained using a simple hydrothermal method, with petals of flower-like BiWO with oxygen vacancies (BiWO OVs) with controlled content successfully decorated on g-CN nanosheets.

Evaluation of the Factors Influencing the Survival Times of Chinese Patients with Probable Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease - China, 2020-2022.

What Is Already Known About This Topic?: The clinical durations of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (sCJD) patients typically do not exceed 2 years, though considerable variation exists. The factors influencing survival among Chinese sCJD patients remain incompletely characterized.

What Is Added By This Report?: A comprehensive evaluation of 31 factors across 7 categories was conducted in a retrospective cohort of 300 probable Chinese sCJD patients.

β-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid as a potential biomarker for distinguishing human prion diseases from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Background: β-synuclein (β-syn), mainly expressed in central nerve system, is one of the biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood for synaptic damage, which has been reported to be elevated in CSF and blood of the patients of prion diseases (PrDs).

Methods: We analyzed 314 CSF samples from patients in China National Surveillance for CJD. The diagnostic groups of the 223 patients with PrDs included sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (sCJD), genetic CJD (gCJD), fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker (GSS).

The role of NF-κB pathway and its regulation of inflammatory cytokines in scleral remodeling of form-deprivation mice model.

Myopia has become a worldwide public health problem. In this study, we constructed a form deprivation (FD) myopia mouse model and explored the potential role of NF-κB pathway and inflammatory cytokines in scleral remodeling during myopia development. Wild-type (WT) mice and C6-knockout (KO) mice were categorized into two groups: FD and normal control (NC).

An innovative application of osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) for enhanced activated sludge thickening and stabilization with bioelectricity generation.

Waste activated sludge (WAS) management presents significant challenges due to its complex composition and the high cost associated with conventional treatment methods. This study investigates the potential of osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) technology for WAS thickening, stabilization, and bioelectricity generation. Compared to conventional microbial fuel cells (MFCs), OsMFCs offer several advantages, including enhanced sludge thickening performance, improved organic matter degradation efficiency, and increased bioelectricity generation.

Effects of Additional Flexible and Rigid Structure on BDT-BDD Terpolymer and the Performance of Organic Solar Cells.

In organic solar cells, the aggregation and crystallization of polymers are significant for bulk heterojunction. Blending with acceptor materials, polymer donor materials can adjust their aggregation by the movement of the chain segments. In this paper, the unfused structures based on thiophene and carbazole are respectively designed and introduced into the donor-acceptor copolymer donor materials to investigate the influence of flexible and rigid structures on polymer-aggregation leading photoelectric performance.

STEAP3-SLC39A8-mediated microglia ferroptosis involved in neurotoxicity in rats after exposure to lead and cadmium combined.

The exposure of humans and animals to environmental compounds is rarely restricted to a single chemical. Unfortunately, very few studies were conducted to determine cadmium and lead combined effect. The aim of this study was to clarify the neurotoxicity induced by combined exposure to lead and cadmium and its mechanism of action.

SASH1 is a novel binding partner to disassemble Caskin1 tandem SAM homopolymer through heterogeneous SAM-SAM interaction.

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine protein kinase (CASK) interaction protein 1/2 (Caskin1/2) is essential neuronal synaptic scaffold protein in nervous system development. Knockouts of Caskin1/2 display severe deficits in novelty recognition and spatial memory. The tandem sterile alpha motif (SAM) domains of Caskin1/2, also conserved in their Drosophila homolog Ckn, are known to form homopolymers, yet their dynamic regulation mechanism remains unclear.

Electron Delocalized Ni Active Sites in Spinel Catalysts Enable Efficient Urea Oxidation.

The urea oxidation reaction (UOR) has attracted much attention as an efficient alternative reaction to oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to its low required overpotential. Despite significant progress in efficient nickel-based catalysts, the fundamental issues regarding product selectivity control and dissociation mechanism during the UOR process have not been clarified. Here, we report that tuning the electron delocalization strength of Ni sites significantly affects the OH binding sites, altering urea molecule dissociation patterns in alkaline systems.

Water-Vapor-Triggered Dual-Mode Optical Responses in Rare-Earth-Doped Hollow Nanospheres.

Multimode responsive optical materials are garnering ever-increasing attention due to their diverse applications. This work showcases a film assembled with rare-earth-doped CaF hollow nanospheres that exhibit water-vapor-triggered dual-mode optical responses. Upon exposure to flowing water vapor, the film rapidly (less than 1.

Aberrance of GAP43/p-GAP43 Closely Associates with the Pathology of Neuron Loss in Prion-Infected Rodent Models.

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders characterized by neuron damage and loss. Growth-associated protein 43 (GAP43) functions in neuronal plasticity and synaptic function, but its role in prion diseases is not fully elucidated. In this study, we investigated the changes of GAP43 in the central nerve system (CNS) of several prion-infected rodent models and explored the potential relationship of GAP43 with PrP deposit and neuron loss using various methods.

Rational Design Dithieno[3,2-f:2',3'-h]Quinoxaline-Based Polymers with Optimized Molecular Configuration and Charge Transfer for High-Performance All-Polymer Solar Cells.

Due to poor planarity and weak intermolecular interactions of acceptor units which have two-dimensional configuration, the development of related polymers is slow. In this work, we synthesized a dithieno[3,2-f:2',3'-h]quinoxaline-based unit substituted with fluorinated thiophene, which can effectively expand the area of the acceptor unit. Then, it paired with three different benzodithiophene-based donor units, and three new polymers of PQTF-BT, PQTF-BTCl and PQTF-DTCl were obtained.

Development of bait station to complement attract-and-kill agents of Zeugodacus tau (Diptera: Tephritidae).

Zeugodacus tau (Walker) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an important agricultural pest currently managed primarily through the application of insecticides due to limited control strategies. Bait station devices are target specific and have emerged as a behaviorally based alternative to traditional insecticide sprays for managing Z. tau.

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity of high concentrations of hydrogen in the lung diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

As a small molecule, hydrogen is colorless, odorless and lightest. Many studies conducted that hydrogen can protect almost every organ, including the brain, heart muscle, liver, small intestine, and lungs. To verify whether high concentrations of hydrogen (HCH) has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities on respiratory system, we product a systematic review and meta-analysis.

A retrospective study revealing complex viral diversity and a substantial burden of HPV infection in SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals, Sierra Leone.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical role of sequencing technology in disease control and outbreak response. However, resource limitations and challenging environments often impede such efforts in low and middle-income countries. This study aimed to investigate the spectrum of viral co-infections, particularly with human viral pathogens, in SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals in Sierra Leone using metagenomic sequencing, evaluating the feasibility of utilizing this technology for epidemiological and evolutionary surveillance of pathogens related to public health in low-income environments.

Tryptophan supplements in high-carbohydrate diets by improving insulin response and glucose transport through PI3K-AKT-GLUT2 pathways in blunt snout bream (Megalobrama amblycephala).

The aim of this experiment was to elucidate the metabolic ramifications of tryptophan supplementation in the context of high-carbohydrate diet-feeding, which is important for improving feeding strategies in aquaculture in order to improve fish carbohydrate metabolism. Juvenile blunt snout bream with an initial mean body mass of 55.0±0.

Flexible electrochemical energy storage devices and related applications: recent progress and challenges.

Given the escalating demand for wearable electronics, there is an urgent need to explore cost-effective and environmentally friendly flexible energy storage devices with exceptional electrochemical properties. However, the existing types of flexible energy storage devices encounter challenges in effectively integrating mechanical and electrochemical performances. This review is intended to provide strategies for the design of components in flexible energy storage devices (electrode materials, gel electrolytes, and separators) with the aim of developing energy storage systems with excellent performance and deformability.

Impacts of the cyromazine emergence inhibition procedure of Bactrocera dorsalis on Fopius arisanus: implications for the biological control of diptera pest.

Background: Fopius arisanus (Sonan) is an important egg-pupal endoparasitic wasp of Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel). As traditional method of sorting nonparasitic B. dorsalis from parasitic wasps is labor-intensive, requires specific equipment and poses the risk of spreading fertile hosts, the development of a more convenient, economical and safe sorting procedure is important.