Genetic characteristics of human coronavirus HKU1 in mainland China during 2018.

Human coronavirus HKU1 (HCoV-HKU1) is a pathogen that causes acute respiratory tract infections in children and circulates worldwide. To investigate the molecular characteristics and genetic diversity of HCoV-HKU1 in China, a molecular epidemiological analysis based on complete genome sequences was performed. A total of 68 endemic-HCoV-positive samples were identified from 1358 enrolled patients during 2018, including four HCoV-229E, nine HCoV-OC43, 24 HCoV-NL63, and 31 HCoV-HKU1.

Relationship between inflammatory cells level and longer duration of hypertension in Chinese community residents.

Background: To explore the relationship between duration of hypertension and inflammatory cell levels and to assess whether long duration might aggravate these inflammatory cells among Chinese urban community residents.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 5199 hypertensive and 2675 no-hypertensive participants who registered in community health service centers for physical examination was performed in Tianjin, China. Data of blood pressure and inflammatory cells were collected.

Intra- and Peritumoral Radiomics Model Based on Early DCE-MRI for Preoperative Prediction of Molecular Subtypes in Invasive Ductal Breast Carcinoma: A Multitask Machine Learning Study.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate radiomics features extracted from the optimal peritumoral region and the intratumoral area on the early phase of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) for predicting molecular subtypes of invasive ductal breast carcinoma (IDBC).

Methods: A total of 422 IDBC patients with immunohistochemical and fluorescence hybridization results from two hospitals (Center 1: 327 cases, Center 2: 95 cases) who underwent preoperative DCE-MRI were retrospectively enrolled. After image preprocessing, radiomic features were extracted from the intratumoral area and four peritumoral regions on DCE-MRI from two centers, and selected the optimal peritumoral region.

CD177 cells produce neutrophil extracellular traps that promote biliary atresia.

Background & Aims: We have previously reported on the potential pathogenic role of neutrophils in biliary atresia (BA). Herein, we aimed to delineate the role of CD177+ neutrophils in the pathogenesis of BA.

Methods: Immune cells from the livers of mice with rhesus rotavirus-induced BA were analysed.

Association between polymorphisms and Hirschsprung's disease susceptibility in Chinese children.

Background: Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is a rare congenital disease in which enteric nervous system (ENS) in the distal intestine is absent. HSCR is a disease involving genetic factors and environmental factors. Despite a series of genes have been revealed to contribute to HSCR, many HSCR associated genes were yet not identified.

Rapid Inference of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions Based on a Top-Down Method with a Physically Informed Variational Autoencoder.

Accurate timely estimation of emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO) is a prerequisite for designing an effective strategy for reducing O and PM pollution. The satellite-based top-down method can provide near-real-time constraints on emissions; however, its efficiency is largely limited by efforts in dealing with the complex emission-concentration response. Here, we propose a novel machine-learning-based method using a physically informed variational autoencoder (VAE) emission predictor to infer NO emissions from satellite-retrieved surface NO concentrations.

Construction of Adenoviral Vectors using DNA Assembly Technology.

Adenoviral vectors have been used as a gene transfer tool in gene therapy for more than three decades. Here, we introduce a protocol to construct an adenoviral vector by manipulating the genomic DNA of wild-type HAdV-7 by using a DNA assembly method. First, an infectious clone of HAdV-7, pKan-Ad7, was generated by fusing the viral genomic DNA with a PCR product from plasmid backbone, comprising of the kanamycin-resistant gene and the origin of replication (Kan-Ori), through DNA assembly.

Sports and Myopia: An Investigation on the Prevalence and Risk Factors of Myopia in Young Sports-Related Groups in Tianjin, China.

Objective: To explore the relationship between sports and the prevalence of myopia in young sports-related groups in Tianjin, China.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a cluster sampling method was used to survey professional athletes in Tianjin, students at Tianjin University of Sport, and Tianjin Vocational College of Sports. All participants completed epidemiological questionnaires and ophthalmic examinations.

Inhibits Proliferation and Differentiation of Bovine Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells by Targeting .

Non-coding RNAs, especially microRNAs (miRNAs), play an important role in skeletal muscle growth and development. miR-377 regulates many basic biological processes and plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation, migration and apoptosis. Nevertheless, the function of miR-377 during skeletal muscle development and how it regulates skeletal muscle satellite cells (SMSCs) remains unclear.

Circulating folate concentrations and the risk of mild cognitive impairment: A prospective study on the older Chinese population without folic acid fortification.

Background: The longitudinal association between serum folate concentrations and the risk of cognitive impairment remains unclear in populations with low folate levels. We examined the association between serum folate concentrations and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults in China, where mandatory fortification of foods with folic acid has not been implemented. We further explored if homocysteine (Hcy) and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) mediate the association between serum folate and MCI.

Rationally-designed Chitosan-based Polymeric Nanomaterials According to Intrinsic Characteristics for Cancer Therapy and Theranostics: A Review.

Chitosan, the only naturally occurring polycationic polysaccharide derived from chitin, has long case been implicated in the designs of nanosystems for diverse biomedical and pharmaceutical applications owing to its exclusive biodegradability, biocompatibility, cationic property, and functional groups. Particularly, some intrinsic characteristics of chitosan equip it with high potential for facile preparation, flexible functionalization, and modification, which circumvent the defects of chitosan and account for extensive attempts in cancer therapy and theranostic. In this review, we first give a classifiable explanation of strategies in fabricating rationally-designed chitosan-based polymeric nanomaterials for cancer therapy, which are categorized by the physical, chemical, and biological intrinsic characteristics of chitosan, respectively.

Nebulized fusion inhibitory peptide protects cynomolgus macaques from measles virus infection.

Measles is the most contagious airborne viral infection and the leading cause of child death among vaccine-preventable diseases. We show here that aerosolized lipopeptide fusion inhibitors, derived from heptad-repeat regions of the measles virus (MeV) fusion protein, block respiratory MeV infection in a non-human primate model, the cynomolgus macaque. We used a custom-designed mesh nebulizer to ensure efficient aerosol delivery of peptides to the respiratory tract and demonstrated the absence of adverse effects and lung pathology in macaques.

The beneficial cutoffs of vitamin D for metabolic syndrome varies by sex among the elderly Chinese population: A cross-sectional study.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a risk factor for various diseases with a high prevalence globally. We aimed to investigate the association of serum vitamin D levels with MetS, and we hypothesized that the beneficial cutoffs of vitamin D for MetS might vary by sex among urban people aged ≥60 years in Tianjin, China. This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 2 community health centers.

Novel cleavage sites identified in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein reveal mechanism for cathepsin L-facilitated viral infection and treatment strategies.

The spike (S) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an important target for vaccine and drug development. However, the rapid emergence of variant strains with mutated S proteins has rendered many treatments ineffective. Cleavage of the S protein by host proteases is essential for viral infection.

Sequentially targeting and intervening mutual Polo-like Kinase 1 on CAFs and tumor cells by dual targeting nano-platform for cholangiocarcinoma treatment.

: Synergistic treatment strategies for two or more drugs have gradually developed as the main options in clinics for cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) owing to the complicated crosstalk between the tumor and stroma. However, the different synergetic mechanisms pose great challenges to the dosages and order of administration of drugs. Thus, a strategy for exploring and intervening in mutual targets derived from stromal cells and cholangiocarcinoma cells was proposed.

A randomised trial evaluating mask ventilation using electrical impedance tomography during anesthetic induction: one-handed technique versus two-handed technique.

Mask positive-pressure ventilation could lead to lung ventilation inhomogeneity, potentially inducing lung function impairments, when compared with spontaneous breathing. Lung ventilation inhomogeneity can be monitored by chest electrical impedance tomography (EIT), which could increase our understanding of mask ventilation-derived respiratory mechanics. We hypothesized that the two-handed mask holding ventilation technique resulted in better lung ventilation, reflected by respiratory mechanics, when compared with the one-handed mask holding technique.

axis regulates proliferation, apoptosis and metastasis in the HCT116 human colorectal cancer cell line.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs/circs) have gained attention as a class of potential biomarkers for the early detection of multiple cancers. However, the functions and mechanisms of circRNAs in the oncogenesis of human colorectal cancer (CRC) remain to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the roles of and its parental gene methyltransferase-like 3 () in regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion in the HCT116 human CRC cell line.

Evolution of temporal broadening of ultrashort optical pulse propagation in general ocean turbulence.

Theoretical and experimental explorations have demonstrated that both anisotropy and unstable stratification exist in general ocean turbulence. Recent analyses of temporal broadening of ultrashort optical pulses in oceanic turbulence have adopted the assumptions that the propagation path in the direction was isotropic, or turbulent cells are simply premised on circular symmetry in the xy plane. In this paper, circular symmetry of turbulent cells in the xy plane is no longer maintained, and two anisotropic factors describing the anisotropic scales in the xy plane are introduced to study the temporal broadening of ultrashort optical pulses.

Preoperative prediction of intra-tumoral tertiary lymphoid structures based on CT in hepatocellular cancer.

Purpose: Intra-tumoral tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) are associated with a favorable prognosis for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to identify image features related to TLSs and develop a nomogram for preoperative noninvasive prediction of intra-tumoral TLSs.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients with HCC who underwent contrast-enhanced computed tomography before surgery between January 2014 and September 2020.

Atopic Dermatitis and Skin Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin diseases, and it may be associated with skin cancer risk. However, there is a controversy pertaining to whether it implies a greater or decreased risk of skin cancers. We aimed to study the relationship between AD and skin cancer risk.

Cupric Ions Selectively Modulate TRAAK-Phosphatidylserine Interactions.

TRAAK and TREK2 are two-pore domain K (K2P) channels and are modulated by diverse factors including temperature, membrane stretching, and lipids, such as phosphatidic acid. In addition, copper and zinc, both of which are essential for life, are known to regulate TREK2 and a number of other ion channels. However, the role of ions in the association of lipids with integral membrane proteins is poorly understood.