Anthropogenic environments have been implicated in enrichment and exchange of antibiotic resistance genes and bacteria. Here we study the impact of confined and controlled swine farm environments on ...temporal changes in the gut microbiome and resistome of veterinary students with occupational exposure for 3 months. By analyzing 16S rRNA and whole metagenome shotgun sequencing data in tandem with culture-based methods, we show that farm exposure shapes the gut microbiome of students, resulting in enrichment of potentially pathogenic taxa and antimicrobial resistance genes. Comparison of students' gut microbiomes and resistomes to farm workers' and environmental samples revealed extensive sharing of resistance genes and bacteria following exposure and after three months of their visit. Notably, antibiotic resistance genes were found in similar genetic contexts in student samples and farm environmental samples. Dynamic Bayesian network modeling predicted that the observed changes partially reverse over a 4-6 month period. Our results indicate that acute changes in a human's living environment can persistently shape their gut microbiota and antibiotic resistome.
This study aimed to determine the levels of health-related behaviours (physical activity, screen exposure and sleep status) among Chinese students from primary, secondary and high schools during the ...pandemic of COVID-19, as well as their changes compared with their status before the pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey of 10,933 students was conducted among 10 schools in Guangzhou, China, between 8th and 15th March, 2020. After getting the informed consent from student's caregivers, an online questionnaire was designed and used to obtain time spending on health-related behaviours during the pandemic of COVID-19, as well as the changes compared with 3 months before the pandemic, which was completed by students themselves or their caregivers. Students were stratified by regions (urban, suburban, exurban), gender (boys and girls), and grades (lower grades of primary school, higher grades of primary schools, secondary schools and high schools). Data were expressed as number and percentages and Chi-square test was used to analyse difference between groups. Overall, the response rate of questionnaire was 95.3% (10,416/10,933). The median age of included students was 13.0 (10.0, 16.0) years and 50.1% (n = 5,219) were boys. 41.4%, 53.6% and 53.7% of total students reported less than 15 min per day in light, moderate and vigorous activities and 58.7% (n = 6,113) reported decreased participation in physical activity compared with the time before pandemic. Over 5 h of screen time spending on online study was reported by 44.6% (n = 4,649) of respondents, particular among high school students (81.0%). 76.9% of students reported increased screen time compared with the time before pandemic. Inadequate sleep was identified among 38.5% of students and the proportion was highest in high school students (56.9%). Our study indicated that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the school closure exerted tremendous negative effects on school-aged children's health habits, including less physical activity, longer screen exposure and irregular sleeping pattern.
Fullerene‐based carbons are promising electrode materials for supercapacitors due to their unique carbon structures and tunable architectures at the molecular level. By introducing various functional ...groups with many elements on the fullerene cages, diverse in situ metal/nonmetal‐doped carbon materials with enhanced pseudocapacitances and/or double layer capacitances can be prepared. In the present work, a fullerene derivative, ferrocenylpyrrolidine C60, containing nitrogen and iron, is chosen as the only precursor. A unique microstructure is fabricated by a liquid–liquid interfacial precipitation process. Subsequently, a facile, one‐step annealing of the microstructure at different temperatures is performed. A series of in situ N and Fe‐codoped laminated 3D hierarchical carbon composites in the shape of a cross are successfully synthesized. The as‐prepared N and Fe‐codoped carbon material treated at 700 °C exhibits a high specific capacitance of 505.4 F g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. To the best knowledge, this is the highest supercapacitor capacitance based on fullerene electrode materials. The use of a fullerene derivative as an in‐situ doped carbon for applications in energy storage opens a new avenue for developing future synthetic strategies to extend the repertoire of electrode materials with high performance.
N and Fe‐codoped cross‐like 3D hierarchical carbon materials for high‐performance supercapacitors are successfully synthesized from an in‐situ doped fullerene, ferrocenylpyrrolidine C60 containing nitrogen and iron. The use of a fullerene derivative for applications in energy storage opens a new avenue for developing new synthetic strategies to extend the repertoire of electrode materials with remarkable performance.
Abstract
Developing high-quality NIR-II fluorophores (emission in 1000–1700 nm) for in vivo imaging is of great significance. Benzothiadiazole-core fluorophores are an important class of NIR-II dyes, ...yet ongoing limitations such as aggregation-caused quenching in aqueous milieu and non-activatable response are still major obstacles for their biological applications. Here, we devise an activatable nanoprobe to address these limitations. A molecular probe named BTPE-NO
2
is synthesized by linking a benzothiadiazole core with two tetraphenylene groups serving as hydrophobic molecular rotors, followed by incorporating two nitrophenyloxoacetamide units at both ends of the core as recognition moieties and fluorescence quenchers. An FDA-approved amphiphilic polymer Pluronic F127 is then employed to encapsulate the molecular BTPE-NO
2
to render the nanoprobe BTPE-NO
2
@F127. The pathological levels of H
2
O
2
in the disease sites cleave the nitrophenyloxoacetamide groups and activate the probe, thereby generating strong fluorescent emission (950~1200 nm) and ultrasound signal for multi-mode imaging of inflammatory diseases. The nanoprobe can therefore function as a robust tool for detecting and imaging the disease sites with NIR-II fluorescent and multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) imaging. Moreover, the three-dimensional MSOT images can be obtained for visualizing and locating the disease foci.
Inflammation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of acute kidney injury (AKI). However, evidence regarding the prognostic effect of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), a ...novel systemic inflammation marker, among patients with AKI is scarce. In this study, we investigated the value of the PLR in predicting the outcomes of critically ill patients with AKI.
Patient data were extracted from the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care Database III version 1.3. PLR cutoff values were determined using smooth curve fitting or quintiles and were used to categorize the subjects into groups. The clinical outcomes were 30-day and 90-day mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU). Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between the PLR and survival.
A total of 10,859 ICU patients with AKI were enrolled. A total of 2277 thirty-day and 3112 ninety-day deaths occurred. A U-shaped relationship was observed between the PLR and both 90-day and 30-day mortality, with the lowest risk being at values ranging from 90 to 311. The adjusted HR (95% CI) values for 90-day mortality given risk values < 90 and > 311 were 1.25 (1.12-1.39) and 1.19 (1.08-1.31), respectively. Similar trends were observed for 30-day mortality or when quintiles were used to group patients according to the PLR. Statistically significant interactions were found between the PLR and both age and heart rate. Younger patients (aged < 65 years) and those with more rapid heart rates (≥89.4 beats per minute) tended to have poorer prognoses only when the PLR was < 90, whereas older patients (aged ≥ 65 years) and those with slower heart rates (<89.4 beats per minute) had higher risk only when the PLR was > 311 (P < 0.001 for age and P < 0.001 for heart rate).
The preoperative PLR was associated in a U-shaped pattern with survival among patients with AKI. The PLR appears to be a novel, independent prognostic marker of outcomes in critically ill patients with AKI.
To examine the association between blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and risk of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) among Chinese adults, we performed an ongoing cohort study of 38578 Chinese adults (56.3% males; ...average age, 41.6 y) who underwent repeated health check-up examinations between 2009 and 2016 and without T2DM at baseline. During follow-up, incident T2DM cases were identified based on self-report, medication use, measurements of fasting plasma glucose, 2 h post oral glucose, or haemoglobinA1c. 2009 (5.2%) cases confirmed with incident T2DM were identified during median follow-up of 3.1 years. With increasing quartiles of BUN levels, the incidences of T2DM gradually increased with 0.69%, 1.11%, 1.53%, and 1.87% for quartile 1 to quartile 4 (p trend <0.001). Compared with quartile 1, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and its 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for T2DM risk were 1.16 (0.97–1.38) for quartile 2, 1.28 (1.07–1.51) for quartile 3, and 1.28 (1.08–1.52) for quartile 4 (p trend = 0.005). HR for per each standard deviation increase in BUN level was 1.10 (1.04–1.16) (p trend <0.001). This association tended to be more pronounced in those with a lower body mass index at baseline (p-interaction <0.001). Our results suggested that BUN levels were positively associated with incident T2DM risk among Chinese adults. Future prospective investigations in other populations are necessary to confirm our findings.
microRNAs may function as oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes that play crucial roles in human carcinogenesis and cancer development. Growing evidence revealed that the tumor suppressor Id3 is ...involved in tumor progression, carcinogenesis, and the tumor microenvironment. We identified miR‐212‐5p as a negative posttranscriptional modulator of Id3. Dual luciferase reporter assay was used to verify that Id3 is a direct target gene of miR‐212‐5p. Id3 was lowly expressed and miR‐212‐5p was highly expressed in non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues and cells. In addition, we found that NSCLC patients having a higher level of miR‐212‐5p expression had a shorter survival time. Besides this, miR‐212‐5p could directly target Id3 and reduce its expression. miR‐212‐5p overexpression significantly accelerated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by reversing the effects of Id3. Id3 overexpression by silencing miR‐212‐5p expression suppressed phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt activity and consequently promoted apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation in lung cancer cells. Consistent with the in vitro results, a xenograft mouse model was used to validate the fact that miR‐212‐5p could promote tumorigenesis by targeting Id3 and activate the PI3K/Akt pathway in vivo as well. Taken together, the present results indicated that miR‐212‐5p may be involved in progression of NSCLC through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by targeting Id3.
Non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients having a higher level of miR‐212‐5p expression had a shorter survival time. miR‐212‐5p could directly target Id3 and significantly accelerated cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by reversing the effects of Id3. miR‐212‐5p may be involved in progression of NSCLC through the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway by targeting Id3.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an important and urgent threat to global health. Inflammation factors are important for COVID-19 mortality, and we aim to explore whether the baseline levels of ...procalcitonin (PCT), C-reaction protein (CRP) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients with COVID-19. A retrospective study was conducted and a total of 76 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were included between January 17, 2020 to March 2, 2020, of these cases, 17 patients were dead. After adjusting covariates, PCT (≥ 0.10 ng/mL) and CRP (≥ 52.14 mg/L) exhibited independent increasing risks of mortality were used hazard ratio (HR) of 52.68 (95% confidence interval CI: 1.77-1571.66) and 5.47 (95% CI: 1.04-28.72), respectively. However, NRL (≥ 3.59) was not found to be an independent risk factor for death in our study. Furthermore, the elevated PCT levels were still associated with increasing risk of mortality in the old age group (age ≥ 60 y), and in the critically severe and severe patients after adjustment for complications. Thu Baseline levels of PCT and CRP have been addressed as independent predictors of mortality in patients with COVID-19.
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