Background
IL‐25 has been proposed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). This study aimed to evaluate the association of IL‐25 with the ...Th2‐biased inflammatory profiles in CRSwNP.
Methods
Nasal polyp (NP) tissues and control uncinate process tissues were collected from 92 patients with CRSwNP, 20 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP), and 16 normal control subjects. IL‐25 expression was examined using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry, RT‐qPCR, and ELISA. The inflammatory profiles and clinical characteristics of 2 NP subtypes (IL‐25high and IL‐25low) were evaluated, and the effects of IL‐25 on Th2 cytokine production in cultured dispersed polyp cells were examined in vitro.
Results
The mRNA and protein levels of IL‐25 were significantly increased in the polyp tissues compared with the control uncinate process tissues. The IL‐25high subtype showed greater computed tomography scores, endoscopic scores, and Th2 response. Exposure to IL‐25 activated type 2 innate lymphoid cells and Th2 cells in NP simultaneously which further increased Th2 cytokine production in vitro.
Conclusions
Local IL‐25 plays a crucial role in promoting Th2‐biased inflammatory profiles in NP and may serve as a promising therapeutic target in CRSwNP patients.
With the aim of gathering temporal trends on bacterial epidemiology and resistance from multiple laboratories in China, the CHINET surveillance system was organized in 2005. Antimicrobial ...susceptibility testing was carried out according to a unified protocol using the Kirby-Bauer method or automated systems. Results were analyzed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2014 definitions. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of bacterial isolates ranged between 22 774 and 84 572 annually. Rates of extended-spectrum β-lactamase production among Escherichia coli isolates were stable, between 51.7 and 55.8%. Resistance of E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae to amikacin, ciprofloxacin, piperacillin/tazobactam and cefoperazone/sulbactam decreased with time. Carbapenem resistance among K. pneumoniae isolates increased from 2.4 to 13.4%. Resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains against all of antimicrobial agents tested including imipenem and meropenem decreased with time. On the contrary, resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii strains to carbapenems increased from 31 to 66.7%. A marked decrease of methicillin resistance from 69% in 2005 to 44.6% in 2014 was observed for Staphylococcus aureus. Carbapenem resistance rates in K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii in China are high. Our results indicate the importance of bacterial surveillance studies.
•It is currently uncertain whether people with diabetes are at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).•We found that diabetes was associated with an approximately ...4-fold increased risk of having severe/critical COVID-19 illness.•This association was independent of age, sex, obesity, hypertension and smoking.•These findings highlight the urgent need for a multidisciplinary team-based approach to management of this patient population.
Background
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of epidemiologic and physician‐diagnosed pollen‐induced AR (PiAR) in the grasslands of northern China and to study the impact of the ...intensity and time of pollen exposure on PiAR prevalence.
Methods
A multistage, clustered and proportionately stratified random sampling with a field interviewer‐administered survey study was performed together with skin prick tests (SPT) and measurements of the daily pollen count.
Results
A total of 6043 subjects completed the study, with a proportion of 32.4% epidemiologic AR and 18.5% PiAR. The prevalence was higher in males than females (19.6% vs 17.4%, P = .024), but no difference between the two major residential and ethnic groups (Han and Mongolian) was observed. Subjects from urban areas showed higher prevalence of PiAR than rural areas (23.1% vs 14.0%, P < .001). Most PiAR patients were sensitized to two or more pollens (79.4%) with artemisia, chenopodium, and humulus scandens being the most common pollen types, which were similarly found as the top three sensitizing pollen allergens by SPT. There were significant regional differences in the prevalence of epidemiologic AR (from 18.6% to 52.9%) and PiAR (from 10.5% to 31.4%) among the six areas investigated. PiAR symptoms were positively associated with pollen counts, temperature, and precipitation (P < .05), but negatively with wind speed and pressure P < .05).
Conclusion
Pollen‐induced AR (PiAR) prevalence in the investigated region is extremely high due to high seasonal pollen exposure, which was influenced by local environmental and climate conditions.
The extension of the cosmic-ray spectrum beyond 1 petaelectronvolt (PeV; 10
electronvolts) indicates the existence of the so-called PeVatrons-cosmic-ray factories that accelerate particles to PeV ...energies. We need to locate and identify such objects to find the origin of Galactic cosmic rays
. The principal signature of both electron and proton PeVatrons is ultrahigh-energy (exceeding 100 TeV) γ radiation. Evidence of the presence of a proton PeVatron has been found in the Galactic Centre, according to the detection of a hard-spectrum radiation extending to 0.04 PeV (ref.
). Although γ-rays with energies slightly higher than 0.1 PeV have been reported from a few objects in the Galactic plane
, unbiased identification and in-depth exploration of PeVatrons requires detection of γ-rays with energies well above 0.1 PeV. Here we report the detection of more than 530 photons at energies above 100 teraelectronvolts and up to 1.4 PeV from 12 ultrahigh-energy γ-ray sources with a statistical significance greater than seven standard deviations. Despite having several potential counterparts in their proximity, including pulsar wind nebulae, supernova remnants and star-forming regions, the PeVatrons responsible for the ultrahigh-energy γ-rays have not yet been firmly localized and identified (except for the Crab Nebula), leaving open the origin of these extreme accelerators.
The amyloid-β protein (Aβ) protein plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is believed that Aβ deposited in the brain originates from the brain tissue itself. ...However, Aβ is generated in both brain and peripheral tissues. Whether circulating Aβ contributes to brain AD-type pathologies remains largely unknown. In this study, using a model of parabiosis between APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic AD mice and their wild-type littermates, we observed that the human Aβ originated from transgenic AD model mice entered the circulation and accumulated in the brains of wild-type mice, and formed cerebral amyloid angiopathy and Aβ plaques after a 12-month period of parabiosis. AD-type pathologies related to the Aβ accumulation including tau hyperphosphorylation, neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and microhemorrhage were found in the brains of the parabiotic wild-type mice. More importantly, hippocampal CA1 long-term potentiation was markedly impaired in parabiotic wild-type mice. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to reveal that blood-derived Aβ can enter the brain, form the Aβ-related pathologies and induce functional deficits of neurons. Our study provides novel insight into AD pathogenesis and provides evidence that supports the development of therapies for AD by targeting Aβ metabolism in both the brain and the periphery.
Multifunctional single crystalline tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) nanowires with tuned Sn doping levels are synthesized via a vapor transport method. The Sn concentration in the nanowires can reach 6.4 ...at.% at a synthesis temperature of 840 °C, significantly exceeding the Sn solubility in ITO bulks grown at comparable temperatures, which we attribute to the unique feature of the vapor-liquid-solid growth. As a promising transparent conducting oxide nanomaterial, layers of these ITO nanowires exhibit a sheet resistance as low as 6.4 Ω/Symbol: see text and measurements on individual nanowires give a resistivity of 2.4 × 10(-4) Ω cm with an electron density up to 2.6 × 10(20) cm(-3), while the optical transmittance in the visible regime can reach ∼ 80%. Under the ultraviolet excitation the ITO nanowire samples emit blue light, which can be ascribed to transitions related to defect levels. Furthermore, a room temperature ultraviolet light emission is observed in these ITO nanowires for the first time, and the exciton-related radiative process is identified by using temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurements.
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