Medicines for the treatment of 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections are urgently needed. However, drug screening using live 2019-nCoV requires high-level biosafety facilities, which imposes ...an obstacle for those institutions without such facilities or 2019-nCoV. This study aims to repurpose the clinically approved drugs for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a 2019-nCoV-related coronavirus model.
A 2019-nCoV-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V/pangolin/2017/Guangxi was described. Whether GX_P2V uses angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as the cell receptor was investigated by using small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated silencing of ACE2. The pangolin coronavirus model was used to identify drug candidates for treating 2019-nCoV infection. Two libraries of 2406 clinically approved drugs were screened for their ability to inhibit cytopathic effects on Vero E6 cells by GX_P2V infection. The anti-viral activities and anti-viral mechanisms of potential drugs were further investigated. Viral yields of RNAs and infectious particles were quantified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and plaque assay, respectively.
The spike protein of coronavirus GX_P2V shares 92.2% amino acid identity with that of 2019-nCoV isolate Wuhan-hu-1, and uses ACE2 as the receptor for infection just like 2019-nCoV. Three drugs, including cepharanthine (CEP), selamectin, and mefloquine hydrochloride, exhibited complete inhibition of cytopathic effects in cell culture at 10 μmol/L. CEP demonstrated the most potent inhibition of GX_P2V infection, with a concentration for 50% of maximal effect EC50 of 0.98 μmol/L. The viral RNA yield in cells treated with 10 μmol/L CEP was 15,393-fold lower than in cells without CEP treatment (6.48 ± 0.02 × 10vs. 1.00 ± 0.12, t = 150.38, P < 0.001) at 72 h post-infection (p.i.). Plaque assays found no production of live viruses in media containing 10 μmol/L CEP at 48 h p.i. Furthermore, we found CEP had potent anti-viral activities against both viral entry (0.46 ± 0.12, vs.1.00 ± 0.37, t = 2.42, P < 0.05) and viral replication (6.18 ± 0.95 × 10vs. 1.00 ± 0.43, t = 3.98, P < 0.05).
Our pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V is a workable model for 2019-nCoV research. CEP, selamectin, and mefloquine hydrochloride are potential drugs for treating 2019-nCoV infection. Our results strongly suggest that CEP is a wide-spectrum inhibitor of pan-betacoronavirus, and further study of CEP for treatment of 2019-nCoV infection is warranted.
The outbreak of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has caused enormous stress among the public in China. Intellectual input from various aspects is needed to fight against COVID-19, including ...understanding of the public's emotion and behaviour and their antecedents from the psychological perspectives. Drawing upon the cognitive appraisal theory, this study examined three cognitive appraisals (i.e., perceived severity, perceived controllability, and knowledge of COVID-19) and their associations with a wide range of emotional and behavioural outcomes among the Chinese public.
Participants were 4607 citizens (age range: 17-90 years, Mage = 23.71 years) from 31 provinces in China and they took part in a cross-sectional survey online.
The results showed that the public's emotional and behavioural reactions were slightly affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. Moreover, the public had limited participation in the events regarding COVID-19 but actively engaged in precautionary behaviour. In addition, results of structural equation model with latent variables revealed that the three appraisals were differentially related to the outcome variables (i.e., negative emotion, positive emotion, sleep problems, aggression, substance use, mobile phone use, social participation, and precautionary behaviour).
The findings highlight the utility of cognitive appraisal, as a core process of coping stress, in explaining the public's emotion and behaviour in the encounter of public health concern. Practically, the findings facilitate the government and practitioners to design and deliver targeted intervention programs to the public.
The intrinsic hydrophobicity and limited light absorption especially in the near‐infrared (NIR) region of porous organic polymers are two bottlenecks impeding their applications in solar steam ...generation (SSG). Herein, we develop a 1,4,5,8‐tetrakis(phenylamino)anthracene‐9,10‐dione (TPAD)‐based covalent organic framework (COF) (TPAD‐COF) featuring both superhydrophilicity and broad light absorption covering from the entire UV/Vis to NIR regions for SSG. TPAD‐COF serving as a highly efficient photothermal conversion material without any additives displays an excellent water evaporation of 1.42 kg m−2 h−1 and achieves a high energy conversion efficiency of 94 % under 1 sun irradiation. Further extension of the light absorption range of the TPAD‐based COF is realized through post‐synthetic modification by chelating BF2 moieties. Systematic control experiments and analysis confirm that the hydrophilicity of photothermal conversion materials plays a more dominant role in the current TPAD‐based COFs for SSG.
A 1,4,5,8‐tetrakis(phenylamino)anthr‐acene‐9,10‐dione (TPAD)‐based covalent organic framework (COF) with both superhydrophilicity and broad light absorption covering the entire UV/Vis to NIR regions is developed for solar steam generation (SSG) and delivers an excellent water evaporation up to 1.42 kg m−2 h−1 with a high energy conversion efficiency of 94 % under one sun irradiation.
The topological magnetoelectric effect in a three-dimensional topological insulator is a novel phenomenon, where an electric field induces a magnetic field in the same direction, with a universal ...coefficient of proportionality quantized in units of $e²/2h$. Here in this paper, we propose that the topological magnetoelectric effect can be realized in the zero-plateau quantum anomalous Hall state of magnetic topological insulators or a ferromagnet-topological insulator heterostructure. The finite-size effect is also studied numerically, where the magnetoelectric coefficient is shown to converge to a quantized value when the thickness of the topological insulator film increases. We further propose a device setup to eliminate nontopological contributions from the side surface.
Liquid sensors composed of ionic liquids are rising as alternatives to solid semiconductors for flexible and self-healing electronics. However, the fluidic nature may give rise to leakage problems in ...cases of accidental damages. Here, we proposed a liquid sensor based on a binary ionic liquid system, in which a flowing ionic liquid OMImPF
is confined by another azobenzene-containing ionic liquid crystalline OMImAzoO. Those crystal components provide sufficient pinning capillary force to immobilize fluidic components, leading to a freestanding liquid-like product without the possibility of leakage. In addition to owning ultra-high temperature sensitivity, crystal-confined ionic liquids also combine the performances of both liquid and solid so that it can be stretched, bent, self-healed, and remolded. With respect to the reconfigurable property, this particular class of ionic liquids is exploited as dynamic circuits which can be spatially reorganized or automatically repaired.
Decomposition and repolymerization of conjugated polymers offer great promise for developing recyclable photothermal conversion materials, which yet remain challenging. Herein, a crosslinked ...conjugated polymer based on a dynamic covalent bond of Schiff base is developed. This polymer possesses photothermal conversion efficiency as high as 90.4 %. Decomposition of the polymer under specialized conditions is corroborated by various characterizations. The kinetics study is also investigated to understand this degradation process. Furthermore, those decomposed species can be repolymerized back to conjugated polymers which possess the same photothermal conversion efficiency as the pristine polymer. Such a degradable and recyclable photothermal polymer is successfully used as a heat source for photothermal‐electrical conversion to generate Seebeck voltage under either near infrared (NIR) irradiation or solar illumination.
A degradable and recyclable conjugated polymer with excellent photothermal property is designed and synthesized. This polymer is hoped to function as a key part of thermo‐related devices, thus satisfying those demands on reasonable degradability and reuse.
Multivalent cooperativity plays an important role in the supramolecular self-assembly process. Herein, we report a remarkable cooperative enhancement of both structural integrity and metal ion ...selectivity on metal-organic M
L
tetrahedral cages self-assembled from a tris-tridentate ligand (L
) with a variety of metal ions spanning across the periodic table, including alkaline earth (Ca
), transition (Cd
), and all the lanthanide (Ln
) metal ions. All these M
L
cages are stable to excess metal ions and ligands, which is in sharp contrast with the tridentate (L
) ligand and bis-tridentate (L
) ligand bearing the same coordination motif as L
. Moreover, high-precision metal ion self-sorting is observed during the mixed-metal self-assembly of tetrahedral M
L
cages, but not on the M
L
counterparts. Based on the strong cooperative metal ion self-recognition behavior of M
L
cages, a supramolecular approach to lanthanide separation is demonstrated, offering a new design principle of next-generation extractants for highly efficient lanthanide separation.
Early detection and effective treatment of severe COVID-19 patients remain major challenges. Here, we performed proteomic and metabolomic profiling of sera from 46 COVID-19 and 53 control ...individuals. We then trained a machine learning model using proteomic and metabolomic measurements from a training cohort of 18 non-severe and 13 severe patients. The model was validated using 10 independent patients, 7 of which were correctly classified. Targeted proteomics and metabolomics assays were employed to further validate this molecular classifier in a second test cohort of 19 COVID-19 patients, leading to 16 correct assignments. We identified molecular changes in the sera of COVID-19 patients compared to other groups implicating dysregulation of macrophage, platelet degranulation, complement system pathways, and massive metabolic suppression. This study revealed characteristic protein and metabolite changes in the sera of severe COVID-19 patients, which might be used in selection of potential blood biomarkers for severity evaluation.
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•93 proteins show differential expression in severe COVID-19 patient sera•204 metabolites in COVID-19 patient sera correlate with disease severity•A model composed of 29 serum factors shows patient stratification potential•Pathway analysis highlights metabolic and immune dysregulation in COVID-19 patients
Proteomic and metabolomic analysis of COVID-19 sera identifies differentially expressed factors that correlate with disease severity and highlights dysregulation of multiple immune and metabolic components in clinically severe patients.
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•MF-templated rGO/GNP phase change materials containing paraffin wax were prepared.•The composite PCMs exhibited excellent comprehensive performances.•The composite PCM samples showed ...multiple energy conversion abilities.
Phase change materials (PCMs) have wide applications in many fields and they are thought to be one of the highest potential materials in the future. Developing advanced PCMs faces various problems, such as low thermal conductivity, poor shape stability and single energy conversion pattern, etc. In this work, novel composite PCMs were fabricated based on the commercial melamine foam (MF) incorporated by the graphene oxide (GO) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). After hydrothermal reaction and carbonization, the composite aerogel still maintained the three-dimensional (3D) composite framework structure with reduced GO (rGO) and GNPs covering on the carbonized MF framework. The composite PCM samples exhibited high shape stability without leakage under the load of 265 times of its own mass at temperature much higher than the phase change temperature of paraffin wax (PW), high phase change enthalpy retention rate (nearly 100% of PW), high thermal conductivity (1.46 W/m·K) and electrical conductivity (2.787 S/cm) at a filler content of 4.89 wt%. Moreover, the composite PCM samples have excellent light-to-thermal and electric-to-thermal energy conversion abilities, which endow the composite PCMs with great potential in diverse applications, such as the energy saving and heat preservation of building and temperature protection of microelectronic devices, etc.
Epidemiological studies have found that diabetes and cognitive dysfunction are closely related. Quercetin has been certified with the effect on improving diabetes mellitus (DM) and cognitive ...impairment. However, the effect and related mechanism of quercetin on diabetic encephalopathy (DE) are still ambiguous. In this study, we used the db/db mice (diabetic model) to discover whether quercetin could improve DE through the Sirtuin1/NLRP3 (NOD‐, LRR‐ and pyrin domain‐containing 3) pathway. Behavioural results (Morris water maze and new object recognition tests) showed that quercetin (70 mg/kg) improved the learning and memory. Furthermore, quercetin alleviated insulin resistance and the level of fasting blood glucose. Besides, Western blot analysis also showed that quercetin increased the protein expressions of nerve‐ and synapse‐related protein, including postsynapticdensity 93 (PSD93), postsynapticdensity 95 (PSD95), brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in the brain of db/db mice. Quercetin also increased the protein expression of SIRT1 and decreased the expression of NLRP3 inflammation‐related proteins, including NLRP3, the adaptor protein ASC and cleaved Caspase‐1, the pro‐inflammatory cytokines IL‐1β and IL‐18. In conclusion, the present results indicate that the SIRT1/NLRP3 pathway may be a crucial mechanism for the neuroprotective effect of quercetin against DE.
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