We report acute antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in 285 patients with COVID-19. Within 19 days after symptom onset, 100% of patients tested positive for antiviral immunoglobulin-G (IgG). ...Seroconversion for IgG and IgM occurred simultaneously or sequentially. Both IgG and IgM titers plateaued within 6 days after seroconversion. Serological testing may be helpful for the diagnosis of suspected patients with negative RT-PCR results and for the identification of asymptomatic infections.
Abstract
Background
Understanding the long-term effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on cognitive function is essential for monitoring the cognitive decline in the elderly population. This ...study aims to assess the current cognitive status and the longitudinal cognitive decline in elderly patients recovered from COVID-19.
Methods
This cross-sectional study recruited 1539 COVID-19 inpatients aged over 60 years who were discharged from three COVID-19-designated hospitals in Wuhan, China, from February 10 to April 10, 2020. In total, 466 uninfected spouses of COVID-19 patients were selected as controls. The current cognitive status was assessed using a Chinese version of the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status-40 (TICS-40) and the longitudinal cognitive decline was assessed using an Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Cognitive assessments were performed 6 months after patient discharge.
Results
Compared with controls, COVID-19 patients had lower TICS-40 scores and higher IQCODE scores TICS-40 median (IQR): 29 (25 to 32) vs. 30 (26 to 33),
p
< 0.001; IQCODE median (IQR): 3.19 (3.00 to 3.63) vs. 3.06 (3.00 to 3.38),
p
< 0.001. Severe COVID-19 patients had lower TICS-40 scores and higher IQCODE scores than non-severe COVID-19 patients TICS-40 median (IQR): 24 (18 to 28) vs. 30 (26 to 33),
p
< 0.001; IQCODE median (IQR): 3.63 (3.13 to 4.31) vs. 3.13 (3.00 to 3.56),
p
< 0.001 and controls TICS-40 median (IQR): 24 (18 to 28) vs. 30 (26 to 33),
p
< 0.001; IQCODE median (IQR) 3.63 (3.13 to 4.31) vs. 3.06 (3.00 to 3.38),
p
< 0.001. Severe COVID-19 patients had a higher proportion of cases with current cognitive impairment and longitudinal cognitive decline than non-severe COVID-19 patients dementia: 25 (10.50 %) vs. 9 (0.69 %),
p
< 0.001; Mild cognitive impairment (MCI): 60 (25.21 %) vs. 63 (4.84 %),
p
< 0.001 and controls dementia: 25 (10.50 %) vs. 0 (0 %),
p
< 0.001; MCI: 60 (25.21 %) vs. 20 (4.29 %),
p
< 0.001). COVID-19 severity, delirium and COPD were risk factors of current cognitive impairment. Low education level, severe COVID-19, delirium, hypertension and COPD were risk factors of longitudinal cognitive decline.
Conclusions
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with an increased risk of long-term cognitive decline in elderly population. COVID-19 patients, especially severe patients, should be intensively monitored for post-infection cognitive decline.
Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation (PVPA) projects, which utilize the subsidies and income from PV power to alleviate poverty in rural areas, are part of a comprehensive energy policy innovation in ...China. It is expected that the projects will deploy at least 10 GW PV and benefit more than two million poor households in total by 2020. To achieve this goal, specific supporting policies and novel business models are necessary. In the present paper, the current status and existing supporting policies are introduced to give an overview of PVPA projects. Then representative business models in PV projects are summarized and compared to provide a reference for PVPA projects. Obstacles, such as subsidy delays, insufficient infrastructure, low quality of PV equipment, and inflexible profit allocation mechanism may reduce the revenue from PV operation and increase the costs of PV deployment. Therefore, this paper also proposes corresponding recommendations for policy makers considering the existing challenges.
•The financial yield of Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation (PVPA) is analyzed.•The major policies for PVPA and photovoltaic (PV) industry are summarized.•Novel business models for PV projects are analyzed and compared.•Challenges in PVPA are summarized and corresponding strategies are proposed.
•Chitosan/biochar hydrogel beads have great potential of easy separation and regeneration.•The uptake capacity of chitosan/biochar hydrogel beads showed about 36.72 mg/g.•The regeneration of CBHB was ...still more than 25.73 mg/g after 6th regeneration.
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Biochar is effective in water treatment but it is hard to retrieve or separate biochar powder from aqueous solutions. In this study, the removal of ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions was investigated using chitosan/biochar hydrogel beads (CBHB). The results showed that the adsorption rate was almost independent of the temperature and occurred at the homogeneous sites of adsorbent thus obeying the Langmuir model. The equilibrium time was varying for different initial concentrations and found to be 48 h for maximum one. The maximum sorption was found to be >76 mg/g of adsorbent out of 160 mg/L as initial concentration. Adsorption obeyed the second-order mechanism with leading role of intra-particle diffusion and outer diffusion. Adsorption capacity decreased from 34.90 mg/g to 15.77 mg/g in the presence of 0.01 N Na3PO4 whereas other electrolytes such as NaCl, Na2SO4, NaNO3 with same concentration did not affect the sorption capacity. However, increased concentration of NaCl reduced the sorption capacity to some extent. CBHB showed a mixed mechanism by removing CIP through π-π electron donor-acceptor (EDA) interaction, hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction. The reformation of CBHB with methanol and ethanol instead of water decreased its sorption capacity to 32.69 mg/g and 29.29 mg/g. Adsorption decreased by little after every regeneration of CBHB and was still >64 ± 0.68% (25.73 mg/g) after 6th regeneration. The efficacy of CBHB for CIP removal proved that CBHB is an economical and sustainable adsorbent.
The sirtuin family in health and disease Wu, Qi-Jun; Zhang, Tie-Ning; Chen, Huan-Huan ...
Signal transduction and targeted therapy,
12/2022, Letnik:
7, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Sirtuins (SIRTs) are nicotine adenine dinucleotide(+)-dependent histone deacetylases regulating critical signaling pathways in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and are involved in numerous biological ...processes. Currently, seven mammalian homologs of yeast Sir2 named SIRT1 to SIRT7 have been identified. Increasing evidence has suggested the vital roles of seven members of the SIRT family in health and disease conditions. Notably, this protein family plays a variety of important roles in cellular biology such as inflammation, metabolism, oxidative stress, and apoptosis, etc., thus, it is considered a potential therapeutic target for different kinds of pathologies including cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and other conditions. Moreover, identification of SIRT modulators and exploring the functions of these different modulators have prompted increased efforts to discover new small molecules, which can modify SIRT activity. Furthermore, several randomized controlled trials have indicated that different interventions might affect the expression of SIRT protein in human samples, and supplementation of SIRT modulators might have diverse impact on physiological function in different participants. In this review, we introduce the history and structure of the SIRT protein family, discuss the molecular mechanisms and biological functions of seven members of the SIRT protein family, elaborate on the regulatory roles of SIRTs in human disease, summarize SIRT inhibitors and activators, and review related clinical studies.
Chronic pain is a major clinical problem with limited treatment options. Previous studies have demonstrated that activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) can attenuate ...neuropathic pain. Inflammation/immune response at the site of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) injection is known to be a critical trigger of the pathological changes that produce inflammatory pain. However, whether activation of AMPK produces an analgesic effect through inhibiting the proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), in inflammatory pain remains unknown.
Inflammatory pain was induced in mice injected with CFA. The effects of AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxyamide ribonucleoside, an AMPK activator), Compound C (an AMPK inhibitor), and IL-1ra (an IL-1 receptor antagonist) were tested at day 4 after CFA injection. Inflammatory pain was assessed with von Frey filaments and hot plate. Immunoblotting, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, and immunofluorescence were used to assess inflammation-induced biochemical changes.
The AMPK activator AICAR produced an analgesic effect and inhibited the level of proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β in the inflamed skin in mice. Moreover, activation of AMPK suppressed CFA-induced NF-κB p65 translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus in activated macrophages (CD68
and CX3CR1
) of inflamed skin tissues. Subcutaneous injection of IL-1ra attenuated CFA-induced inflammatory pain. The AMPK inhibitor Compound C and AMPKα shRNA reversed the analgesic effect of AICAR and the effects of AICAR on IL-1β and NF-κB activation in inflamed skin tissues.
Our study provides new information that AMPK activation produces the analgesic effect by inhibiting NF-κB activation and reducing the expression of IL-1β in inflammatory pain.
The two-dimensional (2D) Ruddlesden-Popper organic-inorganic halide perovskites such as (2D)-phenethylammonium lead iodide (2D-PEPI) have layered structure that resembles multiple quantum wells ...(MQW). The heavy atoms in 2D-PEPI contribute a large spin-orbit coupling that influences the electronic band structure. Upon breaking the inversion symmetry, a spin splitting ('Rashba splitting') occurs in the electronic bands. We have studied the spin splitting in 2D-PEPI single crystals using the circular photogalvanic effect (CPGE). We confirm the existence of Rashba splitting at the electronic band extrema of 35±10 meV, and identify the main inversion symmetry breaking direction perpendicular to the MQW planes. The CPGE action spectrum above the bandgap reveals spin-polarized photocurrent generated by ultrafast relaxation of excited photocarriers separated in momentum space. Whereas the helicity dependent photocurrent with below-gap excitation is due to spin-galvanic effect of the ionized spin-polarized excitons, where spin polarization occurs in the spin-split bands due to asymmetric spin-flip.
Smart window is an attractive option for efficient heat management to minimize energy consumption and improve indoor living comfort owing to their optical properties of adjusting sunlight. To ...effectively improve the sunlight modulation and heat management capability of smart windows, here, we propose a co-assembly strategy to fabricate the electrochromic and thermochromic smart windows with tunable components and ordered structures for the dynamic regulation of solar radiation. Firstly, to enhance both illumination and cooling efficiency in electrochromic windows, the aspect ratio and mixed type of Au nanorods are tuned to selectively absorb the near-infrared wavelength range of 760 to 1360 nm. Furthermore, when assembled with electrochromic W
O
nanowires in the colored state, the Au nanorods exhibit a synergistic effect, resulting in a 90% reduction of near-infrared light and a corresponding 5 °C cooling effect under 1-sun irradiation. Secondly, to extend the fixed response temperature value to a wider range of 30-50 °C in thermochromic windows, the doping amount and mixed type of W-VO
nanowires are carefully regulated. Last but not the least, the ordered assembly structure of the nanowires can greatly reduce the level of haze and enhance visibility in the windows.
Aims
The involvement of pyroptosis in ischemic stroke remains to be established. Therefore, we used the specific pyroptosis inhibitor Vx765 as an experimental intervention target in a murine model of ...stroke.
Methods
A total of 564 C57BL/6 mice were subjected to photothrombotic procedures and treated via gavage with Vx765 at 1‐hour post‐ischemia. We subsequently assessed the expression of Gasdermin D (GSDMD), inflammasomes, caspase‐1, and interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) using immunofluorescence (IF) and Western blot (WB) analyses. We also examined ultrastructural changes of cortical neurons with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and measured infarct volumes dynamically by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Moreover, we evaluated the neurologic deficits by modified neurological severity scores, the rotarod test, and Treadscan.
Results
Elevated expression of GSDMD and GSDMD p30, the pore‐forming subunit, was evident in the peri‐ischemic region on days one and three post‐ischemia. The neuronal plasma, nuclear, and mitochondrial membranes showed ultrastructural damage at day three post‐stroke. Elevated expression of inflammasomes, caspase‐1, and IL‐1β was also present on days one and three post‐injury. There were significant differences between Vx765‐treated and vehicle groups in mean infarct volumes (14.36 vs 21.52 mm3; 12.34 vs 18.56 mm3; 4.13 vs 10.06 mm3; P < .05 at day one, three, and seven post‐surgery, respectively). Mice treated with Vx765 showed better motor recovery as assessed by serial behavior tests and had better neuronal survival, which was attributable to pyroptosis inhibition, as illustrated by downregulated expression of the effector protein GSDMD, inflammasomes, caspase‐1, and IL‐1β. Besides, treatment with Vx765 preserved neuronal membrane structures after the ischemic injury.
Conclusions
Pyroptosis emerges as an important pathway for neuronal death in an acute ischemic stroke. Vx765, a low molecular weight drug that has proven safe in clinical epilepsy trials, has potential therapeutic value for cerebral ischemia by targeting the canonical inflammasome pathway of pyroptosis.
Abstract
Background
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel β-coronavirus, causes severe pneumonia and has spread throughout the globe rapidly. The disease associated ...with SARS-CoV-2 infection is named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To date, real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the only test able to confirm this infection. However, the accuracy of RT-PCR depends on several factors; variations in these factors might significantly lower the sensitivity of detection.
Methods
In this study, we developed a peptide-based luminescent immunoassay that detected immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM. The assay cutoff value was determined by evaluating the sera from healthy and infected patients for pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2.
Results
To evaluate assay performance, we detected IgG and IgM in the sera from confirmed patients. The positive rate of IgG and IgM was 71.4% and 57.2%, respectively.
Conclusions
Therefore, combining our immunoassay with real-time RT-PCR might enhance the diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19.
A peptide-based magnetic chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was developed; 71.4% (197 of 276) and 57.2% (158 of 276) of the COVID-19 inpatients were positive for IgG and IgM against SARS-CoV-2.