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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic and continues to prevail with multiple rebound waves in many countries. The driving factors for the spread of COVID-19 and their quantitative contributions, especially to rebound waves, are not well studied. Multidimensional time-series data, including policy, travel, medical, socioeconomic, environmental, mutant and vaccine-related data, were collected from 39 countries up to 30 June 2021, and an interpretable machine learning framework (XGBoost model with Shapley Additive explanation interpretation) was used to systematically analyze the effect of multiple factors on the spread of COVID-19, using the daily effective reproduction number as an indicator. Based on a model of the pre-vaccine era, policy-related factors were shown to be the main drivers of the spread of COVID-19, with a contribution of 60.81%. In the post-vaccine era, the contribution of policy-related factors decreased to 28.34%, accompanied by an increase in the contribution of travel-related factors, such as domestic flights, and contributions emerged for mutant-related (16.49%) and vaccine-related (7.06%) factors. For single-peak countries, the dominant ones were policy-related factors during both the rising and fading stages, with overall contributions of 33.7% and 37.7%, respectively. For double-peak countries, factors from the rebound stage contributed 45.8% and policy-related factors showed the greatest contribution in both the rebound (32.6%) and fading (25.0%) stages. For multiple-peak countries, the Delta variant, domestic flights (current month) and the daily vaccination population are the three greatest contributors (8.12%, 7.59% and 7.26%, respectively). Forecasting models to predict the rebound risk were built based on these findings, with accuracies of 0.78 and 0.81 for the pre- and post-vaccine eras, respectively. These findings quantitatively demonstrate the systematic drivers of the spread of COVID-19, and the framework proposed in this study will facilitate the targeted prevention and control of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). On time follow-up and timely programing of symptoms are important measures to maintain the effectiveness of DBS. Due to the highly contagious nature of 2019-nCoV, patients were quarantined. With the help of Internet technologies, we continued to provide motor and non-motor symptom assessment and remote programming services for postsurgical PD-DBS patients during this extraordinary period. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on postsurgical PD-DBS patients who could not come to our hospital for programming due to the impact of the 2019-nCoV. The differences between the pre- and post-programming groups were analyzed. We designed a 5-level Likert rating scale to evaluate the effects and convenience of the remote programming and Internet self-evaluation procedures. Results Of the 36 patients engaged in the remote programming, 32 patients met the inclusion criteria. Four of the 32 patients set initiated stimulation parameters, and the other 28 patients had significant improvement in UPDRS-III. Nearly all the 28 patients were satisfied with the effect of the remote programming. Most of the patients were willing to use remote programming again. Conclusion Remote programming based on the online evaluation of patient’s symptoms can help improve motor symptoms of postsurgical DBS patients with PD during the quarantine period caused by 2019-nCoV. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00415-020-10273-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This study aims to develop a universal, robust, and linear method to obtain an initial guess configuration for the multi-step finite element method (FEM) solver of sheet metal forming. Using the decoupling theory, the deformation at each step in the multi-step FEM solver of the sheet metal forming is decoupled into two independent deformation modes: bending-dominated deformation and stretching-dominated deformation. The configuration of the bending-dominated deformation constrained by the sliding constraint surface is considered as the initial guess configuration for the current step in multi-step FEM solver. To get an accurate initial configuration at each step, the method of Laplace-Beltrami operator (LBO) on a simplicial surface is employed to obtain the initial guess configuration effectively. Several numerical examples are provided for validation and verification of the proposed method through its applications for complicated sheet metal workpieces of finite element simulations. The results show that the proposed method on the simplicial surface for the initial guess configuration within a few iterations to be significantly effective.

Electrospun fibers are advanced supporting layers in water purification. Coating the fibers with polydopamine should increase the hydrophilicity and removal efficiency. Here, we report a simple method to fabricate an adsorbent based on polydopamine and electrospun fibers. Polyacrylonitrile and dopamine coelectrospun micro-/nanofibers were selected as supporting layer, and then self-polymerization of polydopamine was used to functionalize the fibers. The polyacrylonitrile/polydopamine micro-/nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and contact angle. Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) was then used to investigate the adsorption by fabricated fibers. Results show that the fibers display a super-hydrophilicity and relative excellent adsorption capacity qm of 61.65 mg g−1 of Cr(VI). This finding is explained by the occurrence of amino and hydroxyl groups of polydopamine, and by the porous fibrous morphology of the electrospinning.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has known beneficial effects on the core motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), likely through induction of dopamine release and sensitivity of dopamine receptors. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can salvage loss of dopamine in PD through their differentiation into dopaminergic neurons. However, it is not known if combined ECT and MSC transplantation may have a synergistic effect against PD. Here, we showed that ECT significantly increased the differentiation of the transplanted MSCs into dopaminergic neurons in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mouse model of PD. On the other hand, transplantation of MSCs significantly increased dopamine levels after ECT. Co-application of ECT and MSC transplantation generated a synergistic effect through increases in dopamine and decreases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, resulting in significantly attenuated defect in stepping test and rotational behavior in MPTP-mice. Together, our data suggest that combined ECT and MSC transplantation can be a valuable treatment of PD.

Overexpression of P2X7R has been observed in several tumours and is related to cancer advancement and metastasis. However, the role of P2X7R in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is not well understood. In the current study, overexpression of P2X7R and the effects at the molecular and functional levels in CRC were assessed in a mouse orthotopic model. Functional assays, such as the CCK‐8 assay, wound healing and transwell assay, were used to determine the biological role of P2X7R in CRC cells. CSC‐related genes and properties were detected via sphere formation and real‐time PCR assays. The underlying mechanisms were explored by Western blotting, real‐time PCR and Flow cytometry. In this study, we found that overexpression of P2X7R increases in the in vivo growth of tumours. P2X7R overexpression also increased CD31, VEGF and concurrent angiogenesis. P2X7R up‐regulates aldehyde dehydrogenase‐1 (ALDH1) and CSC characteristics. Transplanted tumour cells with P2X7R overexpression stimulated cytokines to recruit tumour‐associated macrophage (TAMs) to increase the growth of tumours. We also found that the NF‐κB signalling pathway is involved in P2X7R‐induced cytokine up‐regulation. P2X7R promotes NF‐κB–dependent cytokine induction, which leads to TAM recruitment to control tumour growth and advancement and remodelling of the stroma. Our findings demonstrate that P2X7R plays a key role in TAM recruitment, which may be a therapeutic target for CRC patients.

Motorcycle to vehicle impact accidents occur frequently in real world and often cause serious brain injuries and deaths of motorcyclists. This study aims to research the motorcyclist head responses...

A facile and cost-effective method for the preparation of fluoroalkylated compounds has been described by the direct photoexcitation of halofluoroalkanes with blue light absorptivity, enabling the difluoroalkylation of aryl ketones. The methodology has provided an efficient, mild, and catalyst-free synthetic method for quaternary difluoroalkylated arenes and tetrasubstituted monofluoroalkenes.

In this work, pH/temperature dual-sensitive polymers of P(NVCL-co-MAA) with the increased low critical solution temperature (LCST) values of about 37 °C that differed from that of ~ 32 °C of pure poly(N-vinyl caprolactam) (PNVCL) were synthesized via radical polymerization. Then the nanofibers of P(NVCL-co-MAA) and its cospinned nanofibers with nifedipine (NIF) as drug model were fabricated by electrospinning method. Structures and the interactions within the components were detected by FT-IR, NMR, and XPS methods. The dual-responsive properties and the controlling release of the drug were investigated by water contact angle tests and in vitro drug release tested by UV-vis spectrophotometer. SEM was conducted to demonstrate the morphology of the nanofibers and the obvious improved stabilized morphology of the modified system within the aqueous media. The maintained morphology within the media and the obvious elongated releasing period of over 150 min at 37 °C and with pH of 1.99 both proved the promising prospects of the fabricated nanofibers as excellent carrier in drug delivery system.

ZSM-5 zeolite with hollow structure has gained considerable attention due to their unique properties and great potential applications in catalysis field. In this study, hierarchical hollow ZSM-5 zeolite was synthesized via a facile one-pot hydrothermal process during which a few amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was added. The synthesized ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts were characterized by the XRD, BET-BJH, TEM, FE-SEM, EDS, ICP-AES, XPS and intrusion/extrusion mercury analysis. The results showed that such hierarchical hollow ZSM-5 zeolite as micro-reactor after the modification by Mn species displayed excellent activity with a conversion of 98.7% and an overall selectivity of 97.6% for mild oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone (KA oil) at 70 °C, making this type of catalyst a candidate for the production of industrial KA oil. Also, this approach is proved to be a desirable strategy for constructing hollow zeolite micro-ellipsoids by simple and cost-effective manner, thereby, providing a new avenue to be explored in catalysis field. Keywords: Hierarchical ZSM-5, Mild oxidation of cyclohexane, Cyclohexanol, Cyclohexanone

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), typically converting near-infrared (NIR) light into visible luminescence, are promising for bioimaging applications. However, optical multiplexed in vivo upconversion experiments have long been hampered by the exceptional rarity of available luminescence bands in UCNPs that can penetrate deep in tissues. Herein, we describe an approach to accomplish multiplexed upconversion in vivo imaging through time-domain discrimination of tissue-penetrating NIR luminescence at 808 nm (from thulium ions) with a multitude of distinct lifetimes. A tetradomain nanostructure design enables one to regulate energy migration and upconverting processes within confined nanoscopic domains in defined ways, thus yielding high quantum yield upconversion luminescence (maximum ≈ 6.1%, 0.11 W/cm

Modification of HZSM-5 with phosphorus (P) and gallium (Ga) was found to enhance the activity of CO2-assisted oxidative dehydrogenation and aromatization (CO2-ODA) of propane to liquid aromatics. Flow reactor studies measuring the simultaneous CO2 reduction and the CO2-ODA of propane were performed at 873 K at atmospheric pressure over unmodified HZSM-5 and P/Ga/ZSM-5 catalysts. At comparable propane conversion, HZSM-5 showed a high selectivity toward the undesired methane product (41.4%) with a relatively low selectivity toward aromatics (16.5%). In comparison, P/Ga/ZSM-5 demonstrated a significantly higher aromatics selectivity (42.3%) with a simultaneous reduction in methane selectivity (13.5%). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations identified the mechanisms for propane dehydrogenation and aromatization over P/Ga/ZSM-5 and the role of CO2. Cooperative with P, CO2 addition avoided the formation of molecular H2 and reduced the barriers for benzene formation, leading to an enhanced activity and selectivity to aromatics from CO2-ODA of propane over P/Ga/ZSM-5.

Multicolor lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles have attracted extensive interest due to their application in biosensing, bioimaging, and therapeutics. Herein, a facile strategy of inert gadolinium or yttrium ion doping is proposed to implement tunable multicolor upconversion luminescence in a conventional single red emitting KMnF3 matrix through engineering the local crystal structure and controlling the energy exchanging transfer process. Variation of the Gd3+ or Y3+ doping content in the KMnF3:Yb3+/Er3+ lattice induces a gradual morphological transformation from cube to polyhedron, which arises from the increased lattice binding. The enlarged crystal cell size and the engineered local crystal structure enable the confinement of energy transfer as well as back transfer between Er3+ emitters and Mn2+ ions. Moreover, the partial replacement of Mn2+ ions by Gd3+ or Y3+ ions also weakens the intense interaction between Er3+ and Mn2+ ions. Based on the above functions caused by the precise control of the inert ion doping amount, a palette of multicolor UC luminescence shifting from red to green can be produced and immediately recognized by the naked eye. The results here provide the possibility of realizing simultaneous control of the physical dimensions as well as the luminescence properties of lanthanide-doped upconversion systems.

To remove antibiotics from waste water, an alkali active porous biochar, 850BC, was prepared from corncob xylose residue. In preparation, NaOH dipping was used for silicon removal and KOH activation was operated at 850℃. Further characterization containing BET, SEM, and FTIR were confirmed. 850BC possessed a huge specific surface area of 3043 m2·g−1, developed pore structure and abundant oxygen functional groups. The adsorption performance of sulfamethoxazole on 850BC was quick and efficient, and the adsorption capacity reached 1429 mg·g−1, which was significantly higher than other adsorbents reported previously. While pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model could better describe the adsorption, chemisorption dominated the SMX adsorption onto 850BC. In virtue of pore-filling and π–π interaction as major mechanism, a large surface area and rich oxygen-containing functional groups led to an excellent adsorption performance. Thus, this preparation method provided a biochar-based adsorbent with enhanced specific surface for efficient removal of antibiotic pollutants. Graphical Abstract

Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen is the most traditional hemostatic herb in China. Our previous research found that 20(S)-protopanaxadiol showed the hemostatic effect. And 20(S)-panaxadiol (PD) has a similar structure to 20(S)-protopanaxadiol with a dammarane skeleton. So, this article mainly studies the hemostatic effect of PD. The mouse tail amputation and liver scratch models were used to detect the hemostatic effect of PD. Blood routine and plasma coagulation parameters were measured by using a blood analyzer. The platelet aggregometer analyzed the platelet aggregation rate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration. Moreover, the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i), P-selectin (CD62P), PAC-1 (GP IIb/IIIa receptor marker), and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) of platelets were also detected. The results showed that PD obviously shortened the bleeding time of the model mouse, affected the RBC and PLT parameters of rats, reduced APTT and TT, elevated FIB concentration, and promoted human/rat-washed platelet aggregation in vitro. PD promoted the release of ATP and [Ca2+]i and slightly increased the expression of CD62P and PAC-1 of platelets without 1 mM Ca2+. After adding 1 mM Ca2+, PD obviously increased ATP releasing and CD62P and GP IIb/IIIa expression rate and decreased the cAMP level of platelets. These parameter changes of PD-caused platelet were inhibited by vorapaxar. Besides, PD increased the phosphorylation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/glycogen synthase kinase 3β (PI3K/Akt/GSK3β) of human platelets. PD is an important hemostatic ingredient in Panax notoginseng, which induced platelet aggregation by affecting the calcium signaling and activating the PI3K/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway.

Ginsenosides from ginseng are used as a therapeutic agent for various diseases. They enhance the immunomodulatory effect in cyclophosphamide (CP)-treated tumor disease. The structural characteristics of steroidal saponins are mainly divided into protopanaxadiol-type saponin (PDS) and protopanaxatriol-type saponin (PTS). At present, few researchers have studied which kind of saponin plays a more important role, thus, we compared the prevention effect of PDS and PTS on myelosuppression mice induced by CP. The components and contents of saponin and monosaccharide were analyzed by using ultra high performance liquid chromatography-charged aerosol detector (UPLC-CAD) and reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), respectively. Thirty-two mice were randomly divided into four groups, including control, model (CP), CP+PDS, and CP+PTS. The mice were orally administered with PDS or PTS for 28 days and then injected with CP saline solution on 25, 26, 27, and 28 days at a dose of 50 mg × kg−1. After the end of modeling, the whole blood of mice from the ophthalmic venous plexus was collected to detect routine blood tests, inflammatory cytokines, and hematopoiesis-related cytokines. Cell cycle and the apoptosis of bone marrow in the right femur were detected. The spleen and thymus were used to calculate the organ index and histological examination, and splenocytes were used to detect the percentage of CD4+ and CD25+ T cells. In the saponins analysis, PDS mainly included the Rb1, Rc, Rb2, and Rd of protopanaxadiol-type ginsenosides (accounted for 91.64%), and PTS mainly included the Re, Rg1, and Rf of protopanaxatriol-type ginsenosides (accounted for 75.46%). The animal results showed that both PDS and PTS improved the most indicators of myelosuppression mice induced by CP, including increased weight, blood cell numbers, hematopoiesis-related cytokines, and inflammatory cytokines; promoted the cell cycle of bone marrow and inhibited the apoptosis of bone marrow; elevated the spleen and thymus indexes and CD4+ count of splenocytes. The prevention effect of PDS was better than PTS in some indicators, such as red blood cells, hemoglobin, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, CD4+, and thymus index. These results suggest both PDS and PTS can prevent myelosuppression of mice induced by CP. Meanwhile, PDS and its metabolite showed higher bioavailability and bioactivity compared with PTS.

With the rapid development of the new generation of information technology, the foundation and core role of software are becoming more and more prominent, with more and more applications and complex functions, larger and larger code scale, more and more software quality problems, and more and more software quality data are generated in the software life cycle. In today's big data era, through the effective collection, management and application of these software quality data, the utilization of software quality data can be effectively improved, so as to improve software quality. Based on this, this paper studies the whole life cycle quality data of software, including fault data for software quality improvement, process data for software quality risk prevention and evaluation data for software quality evaluation, for the concept, development, testing, use and maintenance, decommissioning stages of software life cycle. At the same time, this paper studies the requirements definition, collection, transmission, processing, storage, application and sharing of software quality data lifecycle management methods. This can support the construction of software quality data resources, provide decision-making basis for software quality management activities, and help to improve software quality.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have aroused extensive interest in the field of energy storage owing to the ultrahigh anode capacity. However, strong solvation of Li

With the rapid development of various multimedia applications, research on image compression technology has become particularly important. Learning-based compression methods have developed rapidly and achieved excellent rate-distortion performance. Most existing researches have focused on designing a better entropy model to facilitate the probability estimation without attaching importance to how to extract features from images more effectively. However, information extracted by image compression networks is often not realistic and complete enough, especially when the fixed-shape receptive field of the compression network crosses the texture boundary of an image. In this paper, we propose to extract high-fidelity image features adaptively with local textures as the basic unit, which significantly improves the quality of the extracted information and enhances the compactness of the latent representation of the image. Besides, a cross-information-fusion gate is proposed to fuse the two features extracted from the adaptive image feature extraction branch and the main compression branch for reducing spatial redundancy in the latent representation. Experimental results demonstrate our proposed method achieves superior performance compared to existing learned image compression methods and traditional codecs and produces visually pleasing reconstructed images with high-fidelity details.

Background: Brucellosis is a common zoonotic illness in the world. Brucellosis is often characterized by hematologic abnormalities, including mild anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, or pancytopenia. However, severe refractory thrombocytopenia in brucellosis is very rare and easily misdiagnosed.Case presentation: The patient was a 5-year-old girl with brucellosis who developed severe refractory thrombocytopenia (platelet count: 3×109/L) with complaints of epistaxis, skin petechiae and purpura. Most conventional treatments including glucocorticoids and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) did not elevate her platelets, but eltrombopag worked well and her platelet count recovered rapidly. One week later, the patient's symptoms improved and the platelet count returned to normal.Conclusions:Patients with severe refractory thrombocytopenia, particularly resistant to IVIg and steroid treatment should be considered for second-line drugs such as eltrombopag. Our results also increase the application experience of eltrombopag in Chinese patients with severe refractory thrombocytopenia in brucellosis. To the best of our knowledge, this case is the first reported case of the successful treatment of severe refractory thrombocytopenia in brucellosis with eltrombopag.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a sustainable and innovative manufacturing technology to fabricate products with specific properties and complex shapes for additive manufacturable materials including polymers, steels, titanium, copper, ceramics, composites, etc. This technology can well facilitate consumer needs on products with complex geometry and shape, high strength and lightweight. It is sustainable with having a layer-by-layer manufacturing process contrary to the traditional material removal technology—subtractive manufacturing. However, there are still challenges on the AM technologies, which created barriers for their further applications in engineering fields. For example, materials properties including mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of the additively manufactured products are greatly affected by using different ways of AM methods and it was found as the material anisotropy phenomenon. In this study, a detailed literature review is conducted to investigate research work conducted on the material anisotropy phenomenon of additively manufactured materials. Based on research findings on material anisotropy phenomenon reported in the literature, this review paper aims to understand the nature of this phenomenon, address main factors and parameters influencing its severity on thermal, electrical and mechanical properties of 3D printed parts, and also, explore potential methods to minimise or mitigate this unwanted anisotropy. The outcomes of this study would be able to shed a light on improving additive manufacturing technologies and material properties of additively manufactured materials.

An efficient, catalyst/photocatalyst-free, and cost-effective methodology for the decarboxylative alkylation of

Otomycosis is a fungal ear infection, mostly a superficial mycotic infection of the outer ear canal. The infection may be either subacute or acute but chronic form is around 10%. The characteristic of otomycosis are discharge, pruritus, or more severe discomfort. Here we report a 46-year-old Asian woman presented with vertigo and was diagnosed as otomycosis with the complications of tympanic membrane perforation, otitis media and labyrinthitis of inner ear which was confirmed by IV-Gd 1.5 T MRI. This case is a chronic otomycosis related to cerumen removal two year before this onset. Our study supported the suggestion that otomycosis should include fungal infections of the middle and inner ear, furthermore the infection of the inner ear may be included as labyrinthitis with the symptom of vertigo.

A 40-year-old male undergoing rehabilitation with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) three months after an acute right frontal lobe cerebral infarction. On the second day of HBOT, he felt a significant blockage and pain in his left ear during and after the treatment. The endoscopic assessment of the ear and nose revealed haemorrhage in the left ear tympanic membrane and hemorrhagic effusion in the tympanic chamber. The nasal septum was found to be left deviated resulting in significant narrowing of the left nasal cavity and significant poor ventilation. Laboratory tests showed normal blood count and normal blood coagulation count. The final diagnosis of haemorrhage and fluid accumulation in the tympanic chamber of the left ear was made. After the treatment of the middle ear ball blowing once a day for 10 days, the pure tone audiometry of the left ear reached the level of the right ear, and the blockage and pain in the left ear disappeared completely. The orthoscopy inspection indicated total absorption of hemorrhagic fluid in the tympanic chamber of the left ear. This is the first report that HBOT caused tympanic membrane haemorrhage and offers new insights into the prevention of comorbidities in HBOT.

The current study examined how the general tolerance of women's intimate partner violence and mental violence perpetration are affected by women's ambivalent sexism and relationship causality orientation. One hundred and forty-nine of 221 Chinese female participants recruited on an online platform were included in the final data analysis. The results showed that causality orientation plays a moderating role. Specifically, as controlled orientation increased, the relationship between hostile sexism and intimate partner violence tolerance became stronger. As the autonomous orientation increased, the relationship between benevolent sexism and intimate partner violence tolerance became weaker. Hostile sexism and controlled orientation positively predict women's mental violence perpetration.

In view of the problems of various types, frequent upgrades and inconsistent standards of WTDS on-board protocols and fault dictionaries of EMU, sort out various on-board protocol documents and fault dictionaries of EMU on the whole railway. Analyse the differences of various on-board protocols and fault dictionaries of multiple units of different vehicle types and batches, and study the unified and standardized management method. Design a EMU on-board data protocol management system with complete business functions, standard specifications, safety and reliability, and realize the functions of structuring the content of the protocol file, version of the protocol file, process management, etc., so as to provide data support for EMU data mining and PHM application.

Single-nanoparticle-level sensing allows us to measure individual molecular interactions and probe environmental stimuli at nanometer-scale resolution. Despite these premises, limited success has been met hitherto due to the demanding challenge to distinguish a dimmed signal from a noisy background. Here, we describe an approach for high-sensitivity single-nanoparticle-level sensing of divalent copper (Cu2+) ions through near-infrared-to-visible upconversion luminescence against a near-null background. This nanosensor utilizes ytterbium- (Yb3+) and erbium (Er3+)-doped sodium yttrium fluoride (NaYF4) upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) (maximal emission at 540 nm when excited at 980 nm) as an energy donor, of which the surface attaches Cu2+-dependent DNAzymes labeled with BHQ1 dye (Black Hole Quencher 1, maximal absorption at 548 nm) as energy acceptors. Adding a hint amount of Cu2+ ions resulted in the cleavage of a BHQ1-containing moiety in DNAzymes, thus turning on upconversion luminescence for sensitive detection. Indeed, this approach allows us to perform single-nanoparticle-level detection of Cu2+ ions with extraordinary signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs, >277) for all measured concentrations that cover 3 orders of magnitude (from sub-nM to μM). Importantly, a limit of detection of 220 pM was achieved, about sevenfold lower than the one at the ensemble level. Moreover, a stochastic particle-to-particle sensing behavior was also identified, featuring single-nanoparticle-level detection. This work untaps the usage of UCNPs for high-sensitivity single-nanoparticle-level biosensing.

Background: 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP) is the cornerstone of current antileukemia regimen and contributes greatly to improve the survival of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. However, 6-MP dose-related toxicities limit its application. TPMT, NUDT15, and ITPA are pharmacogenetic markers predicting 6-MP-related toxicities, but their genetic polymorphisms differ from those of ethnic populations. In Yunnan province, a multiethnic region of China, we had no genetic data to predict 6-MP toxicities. In this study, we evaluated the most common variants involved in 6-MP metabolism—TPMT*3C (rs1142345), NUDT15 c.415C>T (rs116855232), and ITPA c.94C>A (rs1127354) variants—in our cohort of pediatric ALL patients.Methods: A total of 149 pediatric ALL patients in the Affiliated Children's Hospital of Kunming Medical University (Yunnan Children's Medical Center) from 2017 to 2019 were enrolled in this retrospective study. We assessed the TPMT*3C (rs1142345), NUDT15 c.415C>T (rs116855232), and ITPA c.94C>A (rs1127354) frequencies and evaluated association between genotypes and 6-MP toxicities, 6-MP dose, and event-free survival (EFS) in these ALL patients.Results: The allele frequencies of TPMT*3C (rs1142345), NUDT15 c.415C>T (rs116855232), and ITPA c.94C>A (rs1127354) were 1.34%, 14.43%, and 18.79%, respectively. Only NUDT15 c.415C>T (rs116855232) was strongly associated with 6-MP toxicity and 6-MP tolerable dose. NUDT15 c.415C>T was related to leukopenia, p = 0.008, OR = 2.743 (95% CI: 1.305–5.768). The T allele was significantly correlated with 6-MP tolerable dose, dose of NUDT15 c.415C>T wild genotype CC 39.80 ± 1.32 mg/m2, heterozygotes CT 35.20 ± 2.29 mg/m2, and homozygotes TT 18.95 ± 3.95 mg/m2. 6-MP tolerable dose between CC and TT had a significant difference, p = 0.009. Between CC and CT, and CT and TT, they had no significant difference. EFS showed no significant difference among NUDT15 c.415C>T genotypes.Conclusion:NUDT15 c.415C>T (rs116855232) was an optimal predictor for 6-MP toxicity and tolerable dose in pediatric ALL patients from Yunnan province, a multiethnic region in China, and would play an important role in precise therapy for ALL.

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is a clinical syndrome featured with the sudden onset of primarily short-term loss of anterograde as well as a milder decline of retrograde memory. The etiology is still unclear. Various risk factors relate with TGA and it is thought the vulnerability of CA1 neurons to metabolic stress plays an important role in the pathophysiological cascade. During the quarantine period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a 53-year-old Asian woman with 30 years of migraine history presented the emergency department for the first time to evaluate a sudden onset confusion and forgetfulness with repetitive questioning during migraine attack. Neurologic examination showed preserved orientations for time and person and no abnormalities in motor, speech, sensory, coordination, or cranial nerves. No focal Neurologic finding. Her memory gradually improved and restored to normal baseline over the course of a 24-hour in-patient stay. However, are trograde memory gap still existed a month after the TGA attack. The pathogenesis of TGA is unknown and many risk factors are associated with it, but among them migraine is considered a major risk factor, particularly in female patients aged 40-60 years. The anxiety stressor is a significant trigger for TGA. The pathophysiology argues that the vulnerability of CA1 neurons to metabolic stress plays an important role in TGA.

The lithium sulfur battery is regarded as a potential next-generation high-energy battery system. However, polysulfides dissolve and shuttle through the electrolytes, causing rapid capacity decay, serious self-discharge, and poor high-temperature performances. Here, we demonstrate that by directly introducing glutamate into commercial electrolytes, these issues can be tackled simultaneously. With abundant negatively charged hydroxyl groups, the glutamate additive electrolyte effectively suppresses the shuttling of negatively charged polysulfide ions through strong repulsive interaction up to 1.54 eV. With glutamate additive electrolyte, the lithium sulfur battery has a capacity retention of 60% after 1000 cycles at 5.95 mA/cm2, a self-discharge rate on the order of one-third that of commercial electrolytes, and stable operation at 60 °C.

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging arbovirus with increasing prevalence in recent years. To reduce the risk of ZIKV transmission by transfusion, some mitigation strategies were recommended based on pathogen reduction technologies for blood products. In this study, we aimed to study the efficacy of several common pathogen reduction methods in the inactivation of ZIKV. The fresh frozen plasma and derivatives were spiked with a high titer of ZIKV or Sindbis virus (SINV). Viral titers and ZIKV RNA were measured before and after the inactivation treatment by methylene blue (MB), solvent/detergent (S/D), pasteurization, and low pH. The mean ZIKV infectivity titers in plasma and derivatives were 7.08 ± 0.14, 5.17 ± 0.14, 7.08 ± 0.14, and 5.80 ± 0.14 log10 TCID50 /mL, respectively before MB, S/D, pasteurization, and low pH inactivation. We found no detectable ZIKV RNA after five successive passages of inoculation on host cells, indicating there is no infectivity after inactivation. Similar inactivation results were observed for SINV. In conclusion, we achieved robust ZIKV inactivation through the four inactivation procedures in several blood products. These findings suggest that the pathogen reduction technologies commonly applied in plasma and derivatives have the capacity to mitigate the risk of ZIKV transmission by transfusion.

Simultaneous realization of upconversion (UC) and downconversion (DC) processes in a single unit provides unique opportunities of photons utilization throughout a broad spectral range for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Yet, the existence of cross relaxation quenching effect in UC/DC interface causes a low synergistic effect. Here, we propose a strategy of embedding an inert layer to spatially separate active UC and DC layers at precisely defined thickness. The construction of sandwich-nanostructured NaYF4:20%Yb3+,2%Er3+@NaLuF4@NaYF4:15%Eu3+ allows the elimination of detrimental cross relaxation quenching, implementing optimal synergistic effect of UC/DC system and further extending simultaneous near-infrared (NIR) and ultraviolet (UV) absorption of DSSC devices to the most extend. By incorporating the sandwiched UC-core/inert-shell/DC-shell nanoparticles into the TiO2 photoanode of DSSCs, the increased photon-electron conversion efficiency (PCE) of 7.87% was obtained mainly by the increased photocurrent of 14.93 mA/cm2 due to the concurrent NIR and UV light harvesting enhancement (PCE = 6.73%, Jsc = 11.91 mA/cm2 for the control cell without the sandwiched spectral layer), thus, showing a noticeable PCE enhancement ratio of ∼16.94%. This work provides a promising strategy to integrate various photons processes in one single unit and broaden spectral respond toward high-efficiency solar cell systems.

Temperature-responsive films of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) were facilely fabricated by one-step plasma-initiated polymerization and then functionalized by self-polymerization of dopamine on the surface. High retention of the monomer structure and temperature-responsive properties in PNIPAM films were confirmed. After plasma-initiated polymerization, PNIPAM films formed protrusions and ridges surfaces. Moreover, cross-linker of N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide with different dosage was introduced into the systems to effectively modulate the roughness of PNIPAM films and to supply better adhesive surface. Furthermore, in cell culture, satisfactory survival rate of the attached Hela cells was obtained on PNIPAM films, and the cell viability was improved further on PNIPAM/PDA films. The results indicated that such films might be applicable in medical treatment and tissue engineering, due to their adjusted adhesion ability and less toxicity to cells.

In this study, the Co(OH)2-Co3O4/graphene (g-composite), Co(OH)2-Co3O4/MWCNT (n-composite), and Co(OH)2-Co3O4/carbon black (b-composite) composite were synthesized via facile solvothermal methods. The crystalline structure, morphology and chemical composition of these nanocomposites were characterized with XRD, SEM, and TEM in details. The XRD, XPS, and Raman results delivered comprehensive structural evidence for the Co(OH)2-Co3O4/carbon composites. The SEM and TEM results corroborated on the flower-like morphologies of the nanocomposites from different reaction temperatures and reagents ratios. Moreover, the Co(OH)2-Co3O4 spheres of hierarchically porous structure uniformly distributed on the carbon substrates. The ultra-lightweight composites featured the highly facile synthesis and superior performance. The minimum reflection loss of Co(OH)2-Co3O4/graphene nanocomposite reached −55.8 dB at 10.56 GHz with a coating of only 2.03 mm, and presented a relatively broad absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ −10 dB) in 8.4–12 GHz.