Publications by authors named "Ruifeng Zhou"

Boletus spp., the edible mushrooms distributed in Europe, Asia, and North America, have been widely used as food and medicinal ingredients worldwide. Bioactive polysaccharides are highly abundant in Boletus spp.

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Background: Previous deep learning methods for predicting protein binding pockets mainly employed 3D convolution, yet an abundance of convolution operations may lead the model to excessively prioritize local information, thus overlooking global information. Moreover, it is essential for us to account for the influence of diverse protein folding structural classes. Because proteins classified differently structurally exhibit varying biological functions, whereas those within the same structural class share similar functional attributes.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study compares the effectiveness and side effects of 400mg and 600mg efavirenz (EFV) in treating HIV-infected patients, concluding that both dosages provide similar antiviral efficacy.
  • - A total of 50 patients were divided into two groups receiving either 3TC+TDF+400mg EFV or 3TC+TDF+600mg EFV, with both groups showing HIV inhibition rates of 56.52% at week 24 and nearly full efficacy at week 48.
  • - Patients on the 400mg EFV experienced significantly fewer adverse effects, with only 27 reported cases compared to 39 in the 600mg group, particularly reporting lower rates of transamin
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This article presents a distributed fault-tolerant control (FTC) scheme for nonlinear fractional-order (FO) multiagent systems (MASs) with the order lying in (0, 1], such that the proposed control architecture can be directly applied to both FO and integer-order (IO) systems without any modifications. To handle the unexpected actuator faults encountered by the FO MASs, a hierarchical FTC mechanism is developed for each system by constructing an event-triggered distributed FO estimator at the upper layer to estimate the leader system's output via conditionally triggered neighboring information, and an FTC unit at the lower layer to counteract the loss-of-effectiveness faults via Nussbaum function with FO criteria. To further address the unknown nonlinear functions involving bias faults and periodic disturbances, the Fourier series expansion technique is used to construct the input variables of fuzzy neural networks (FNNs), such that the FNNs with dynamically adjusted weight matrices, centers, and widths can be developed for each FO system to act as the learning module.

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  • * Researchers developed a modified version called C-ZIF-8@TiO, which shows improved efficiency in degrading organic pollutants, particularly the dye Rhodamine B (Rh-B), compared to standard TiO composites.
  • * The study highlights the superior catalytic performance and durability of C-ZIF-8@TiO and discusses the underlying mechanisms driving its effectiveness in breaking down various antibiotics and dyes in wastewater.
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SARS-CoV-2 infection of the upper airway and the subsequent immune response are early, critical factors in COVID-19 pathogenesis. By studying infection of human biopsies in vitro and in a hamster model in vivo, we demonstrated a transition in nasal tropism from olfactory to respiratory epithelium as the virus evolved. Analyzing each variant revealed that SARS-CoV-2 WA1 or Delta infect a proportion of olfactory neurons in addition to the primary target sustentacular cells.

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  • - The study evaluated the long-term effects of tenofovir fumarate (TDF) on kidney function in 100 HIV-infected patients who were deemed low-risk for kidney injury, after 3.19 years of treatment with TDF plus other antivirals.
  • - Results showed a slight increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and blood β2 microglobulin levels, with statistically significant changes over time, although the incidence of renal tubular dysfunction remained low.
  • - The findings suggest that while long-term TDF can lead to some renal changes, monitoring blood and urine β2 microglobulin levels might be useful for detecting early renal dysfunction, even if changes in these levels did not correlate directly
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Hormone-sensitive lipase () is involved in the breakdown of triacylglycerols in adipose tissue, which influences muscle tenderness and juiciness by affecting the intramuscular fat content (IMF). This study analyzed the association between different genotypes and haplotypes of the yak gene and carcass and meat quality traits. We used hybridization pool sequencing to detect exon 2, exon 8, and intron 3 variants of the yak gene and genotyped 525 Gannan yaks via KASP to analyze the effects of the gene variants on the carcass and meat quality traits in yaks.

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Treatment options for hospitalized people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) with opportunistic infections and comorbidities are limited in China. Albuvirtide (ABT), a new peptide drug, is a long-acting HIV fusion inhibitor with limited drug-drug interactions and fast onset time. This single-center, retrospective cohort study investigated the effectiveness and safety of ABT plus dolutegravir (DTG) therapy in a real-world setting.

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Understanding Influenza B virus infections is of critical importance in our efforts to control severe influenza and influenza-related diseases. Until 2020, two genetic lineages of influenza B virus-Yamagata and Victoria-circulated in the population. These lineages are antigenically distinct, but the differences in virus replication or the induction of host cell responses after infection have not been carefully studied.

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SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with severe COVID-19 and adverse fetal outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Moreover, clinical studies assessing therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy are limited. To address these gaps, we developed a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.

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Understanding Influenza B virus infections is of critical importance in our efforts to control severe influenza and influenza-related disease. Until 2020, two genetic lineages of influenza B virus - Yamagata and Victoria - circulated in the population. These lineages are antigenically distinct but differences in virus replication or the induction of host cell responses after infection have not been carefully studied.

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, has evolved into multiple variants. Animal models are important to understand variant pathogenesis, particularly for variants with mutations that have significant phenotypic or epidemiological effects. Here, cohorts of naive or previously infected Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were infected with variants to investigate viral pathogenesis and disease protection.

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Background: The dynamic characteristics of glucose metabolism and its risk factors in patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) who accepted primary treatment with the efavirenz (EFV) plus lamivudine (3TC) plus tenofovir (TDF) (EFV + 3TC + TDF) regimen are unclear and warrant investigation.

Aim: To study the long-term dynamic characteristics of glucose metabolism and its contributing factors in male PLWH who accepted primary treatment with the EFV + 3TC + TDF regimen for 156 wk.

Methods: This study was designed using a follow-up design.

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SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with severe COVID-19 and adverse fetal outcomes, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Moreover, clinical studies assessing therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy are limited. To address these gaps, we developed a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy.

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Background: Control of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission requires understanding SARS-CoV-2 replication dynamics.

Methods: We developed a multiplexed droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) assay to quantify SARS-CoV-2 subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs), which are only produced during active viral replication, and discriminate them from genomic RNAs (gRNAs). We applied the assay to specimens from 144 people with single nasopharyngeal samples and 27 people with >1 sample.

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Objective: To investigate the distribution characteristics of the HIV genetic subtypes and the status quo of transmitted drug resistance among HIV/AIDS patients in Sichuan with no previous history of receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: Adult HIV/AIDS patients who were hospitalized in Sichuan and who had no previous history of exposure to ART drugs exposure were enrolled. In-house sequencing of the HIV gene was done and phylogenetic tree was constructed to analyze the HIV genetic subtypes.

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Background: The application time of dolutegravir (DTG) is relatively short, and the treatment experience is insufficient. Therefore, evidence is required to shed more light on the effectiveness and safety issues of DTG in China.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of a DTG vs.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study compared viral dynamics in vaccinated individuals versus unvaccinated individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2, focusing on breakthrough infections among vaccinated subjects.
  • - Findings indicated that vaccinated individuals experienced shorter periods of infectious virus shedding and milder symptoms compared to those who were unvaccinated, suggesting effective viral control in those who are vaccinated.
  • - The research concluded that vaccination not only reduces the potential for virus transmission but also limits the severity and spread of symptoms, indicating overall enhanced immunity against the virus.
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  • COVID-19 diagnostics became essential in controlling the pandemic, leading to a study comparing the effectiveness of different testing methods for SARS-CoV-2 among close contacts of infected individuals.
  • The study involved 235 participants, analyzing clinician-collected nasopharyngeal swabs and self-collected saliva samples, and found that various tests (NAT and RT-PCR) detected positive cases not identified by reference tests.
  • Results showed that antigen tests were more effective in symptomatic individuals but had low effectiveness in asymptomatic people, suggesting the need for multiple testing strategies to improve detection of COVID-19 cases.
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The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 replication and shedding in humans remain poorly understood. We captured the dynamics of infectious virus and viral RNA shedding during acute infection through daily longitudinal sampling of 60 individuals for up to 14 days. By fitting mechanistic models, we directly estimated viral expansion and clearance rates and overall infectiousness for each individual.

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SARS-CoV-2 infection of the upper airway and the subsequent immune response are early, critical factors in COVID-19 pathogenesis. By studying infection of human biopsies in vitro and in a hamster model in vivo, we demonstrated a transition in tropism from olfactory to respiratory epithelium as the virus evolved. Analyzing each variants revealed that SARS-CoV-2 WA1 or Delta infects a proportion of olfactory neurons in addition to the primary target sustentacular cells.

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Several vaccines have been introduced to combat the coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines include mRNA-containing lipid nanoparticles or adenoviral vectors that encode the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2, inactivated virus, or protein subunits. Despite growing success in worldwide vaccination efforts, additional capabilities may be needed in the future to address issues such as stability and storage requirements, need for vaccine boosters, desirability of different routes of administration, and emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the Delta variant.

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ConspectusUnder visible light illuminations, noble metal nanostructures can condense photon energy into the nanoscale region. By precisely tuning the metal nanostructures, the ultimate confinement of photoenergy at the molecular scale can be obtained. At such a confined photon energy field, various unique photoresponses of molecules, such as efficient visible light energy conversion processes or efficient multielectron transfer reactions, can be observed.

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Objectives: COVID-19 has brought unprecedented attention to the crucial role of diagnostics in pandemic control. We compared SARS-CoV-2 test performance by sample type and modality in close contacts of SARS-CoV-2 cases.

Methods: Close contacts of SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals were enrolled after informed consent.

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