Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is closely related to the infamous variola (smallpox) virus, causing a febrile rash illness in humans similar to but milder than smallpox. In the twentieth century, human ...monkeypox had been mostly a rare zoonotic disease confined to forested areas in West and Central Africa. However, the case number and geographic range have increased significantly in this century, coincided with the waning of the smallpox vaccine-induced immunity in the global population. The outbreak of human monkeypox in multiple countries since May 2022 has been unusual in its large case number and the absence of direct links to endemic countries, raising concerns for a possible change in monkeypox transmission pattern that could pose a greater global threat. Here, we review aspects of MPXV biology that are relevant for risk assessment and preparedness for a monkeypox epidemic, with an emphasis on recent progress in understanding of the virus host range, evolutionary potential, and neutralization targets.
Controlling the self‐assembly morphology of π‐conjugated block copolymer is of great interesting. Herein, amphiphilic poly(3‐hexylthiophene)‐block‐poly(phenyl isocyanide)s (P3HT‐b‐PPI) copolymers ...composed of π‐conjugated P3HT and optically active helical PPI segments were readily prepared. Taking advantage of the crystallizable nature of P3HT and the chirality of the helical PPI segment, crystallization‐driven asymmetric self‐assembly (CDASA) of the block copolymers lead to the formation of single‐handed helical nanofibers with controlled length, narrow dispersity, and well‐defined helicity. During the self‐assembly process, the chirality of helical PPI was transferred to the supramolecular assemblies, giving the helical assemblies large optical activity. The single‐handed helical assemblies of the block copolymers exhibited interesting white‐light emission and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). The handedness and dissymmetric factor of the induced CPL can be finely tuned through the variation on the helicity and length of the helical nanofibers.
One hand makes light work: The crystallization‐driven asymmetric self‐assembly (CDASA) of the block copolymers leads to the formation of single‐handed helical nanofibers with controlled length, narrow dispersity, and well‐defined helicity. The helical assembly of the block copolymer induced white‐light emission and intense circularly polarized luminescence (CPL).
Abstract
At present, with the rapid economic progress, some emerging technologies have emerged. Processing and designing various images with the help of computer software has been widely used in the ...field of graphic design. With the wide popularization and in-depth application of computers, the application of computer graphics and images in print advertisement design is deepening day by day. Graphic is one of the basic elements of graphic design. As a visual symbol, graphics play a role in carrying and disseminating information and expressing thoughts and emotions. Using computer system for graphic design and production has become the international and domestic development trend, which is the requirement of the times, modernization and the development of the industry itself. Based on the reference relationship, this paper expounds the choice of graphics in graphic design, the role of graphics in graphic design and the relationship between graphics and layout in graphic design. The exploration of graphic elements in graphic design is conducive to the understanding and application of graphic elements in graphic design and the effective transmission of information.
A high‐performance electromagnetic interference shielding composite based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and polystyrene (PS) is realized via high‐pressure solid‐phase compression molding. Superior ...shielding effectiveness of 45.1 dB, the highest value among rGO based polymer composite, is achieved with only 3.47 vol% rGO loading owning to multi‐facet segregated architecture with rGO selectively located on the boundaries among PS multi‐facets. This special architecture not only provides many interfaces to absorb the electromagnetic waves, but also dramatically reduces the loading of rGO by confining the rGO at the interfaces. Moreover, the mechanical strength of the segregated composite is dramatically enhanced using high pressure at 350 MPa, overcoming the major disadvantage of the composite made by conventional‐pressure (5 MPa). The composite prepared by the higher pressure shows 94% and 40% increment in compressive strength and compressive modulus, respectively. These results demonstrate a promising method to fabricate an economical, robust, and highly efficient EMI shielding material.
The rGO/PS composite with segregated architecture is realized via high‐pressure solid‐phase compression molding for efficient EMI shielding. The highest EMI SE of 45.1 dB among rGO based polymer composites is achieved with only 3.47 vol% rGO loading. The high‐pressure molded composite shows 94% and 40% enhancement in compressive strength and modulus compared to conventional‐pressure molded composite.
Abstract
Objective
Metabolic signatures have emerged as valuable signaling molecules in the biochemical process of type 2 diabetes (T2D). To summarize and identify metabolic biomarkers in T2D, we ...performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between metabolites and T2D using high-throughput metabolomics techniques.
Methods
We searched relevant studies from MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library as well as Chinese databases (Wanfang, Vip, and CNKI) inception through 31 December 2018. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 14.0 under random effect. Besides, bioinformatic analysis was performed to explore molecule mechanism by MetaboAnalyst and R 3.5.2.
Results
Finally, 46 articles were included in this review on metabolites involved amino acids, acylcarnitines, lipids, carbohydrates, organic acids, and others. Results of meta-analysis in prospective studies indicated that isoleucine, leucine, valine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, glutamate, alanine, valerylcarnitine (C5), palmitoylcarnitine (C16), palmitic acid, and linoleic acid were associated with higher T2D risk. Conversely, serine, glutamine, and lysophosphatidylcholine C18:2 decreased risk of T2D. Arginine and glycine increased risk of T2D in the Western countries subgroup, and betaine was negatively correlated with T2D in nested case-control subgroup. In addition, slight improvements in T2D prediction beyond traditional risk factors were observed when adding these metabolites in predictive analysis. Pathway analysis identified 17 metabolic pathways may alter in the process of T2D and metabolite-related genes were also enriched in functions and pathways associated with T2D.
Conclusions
Several metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with T2D have been identified, which provide valuable biomarkers and novel targets for prevention and drug therapy.
Porous materials have recently attracted much attention owing to their fascinating structures and broad applications. Moreover, exploring novel porous polymers affording the efficient capture of ...iodine is of significant interest. In contrast to the reported porous polymers fabricated with small molecular blocks, we herein report the preparation of porous polymer frameworks using rigid polyisocyanides as building blocks. First, tetrahedral four-arm star polyisocyanides with predictable molecular weight and low dispersity were synthesized; the chain-ends of the rigid polyisocyanide blocks were then crosslinked, yielding well-defined porous organic frameworks with a designed pore size and narrow distribution. Polymers of appropriate pore size were observed to efficiently capture radioactive iodine in both aqueous and vapor phases. More than 98% of iodine could be captured within 1 minute from a saturated aqueous solution (capacity of up to 3.2 g g
−1
), and an adsorption capacity of up to 574 wt% of iodine in vapor was measured within 4 hours. Moreover, the polymers could be recovered and recycled for iodine capture for at least six times, while maintaining high performance.
Macroporous polymer frameworks with a tunable pore size were readily prepared using 4-arm rod-like polymers as building blocks. They showed excellent iodine capture performance with very high efficiency (1 minute) and high capacity (574%).
Multi-modality image fusion provides more comprehensive and sophisticated information in modern medical diagnosis, remote sensing, video surveillance, and so on. This paper presents a novel ...multi-modality medical image fusion method based on phase congruency and local Laplacian energy. In the proposed method, the non-subsampled contourlet transform is performed on medical image pairs to decompose the source images into high-pass and low-pass subbands. The high-pass subbands are integrated by a phase congruency-based fusion rule that can enhance the detailed features of the fused image for medical diagnosis. A local Laplacian energy-based fusion rule is proposed for low-pass subbands. The local Laplacian energy consists of weighted local energy and the weighted sum of Laplacian coefficients that describe the structured information and the detailed features of source image pairs, respectively. Thus, the proposed fusion rule can simultaneously integrate two key components for the fusion of low-pass subbands. The fused high-pass and low-pass subbands are inversely transformed to obtain the fused image. In the comparative experiments, three categories of multi-modality medical image pairs are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experiment results show that the proposed method achieves competitive performance in both the image quantity and computational costs.
Abstract
Porous organic polymers (POPs) have emerged as a novel class of porous materials that are synthesized by the polymerization of various organic monomers with different geometries and ...topologies. The molecular tunability of organic building blocks allows the incorporation of functional units for photocatalytic organic transformations. Here, we report the synthesis of two POP‐based photocatalysts via homopolymerization of vinyl‐functionalized diaryl dihydrophenazine (DADHP) monomer (
POP1
) and copolymerization of vinyl‐functionalized DADHP and 2,2′‐bipyridine monomers (
POP2
). The fluorescence lifetimes of DADHP units in the POPs significantly increased, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic performances over homogeneous controls.
POP1
is highly effective in catalysing visible‐light‐driven C−N bond forming cross‐coupling reactions. Upon coordination with Ni
2+
ions,
POP2‐Ni
shows strong synergy between photocatalytic and Ni catalytic cycles due to the confinement effect within the POP framework, leading to high efficiency in energy, electron, and organic radical transfer.
POP2‐Ni
displays excellent activity in catalysing C−P bond forming reactions between diarylphosphine oxides and aryl iodides. They increased the photocatalytic activities by more than 30‐fold in C−N and C−P cross‐coupling reactions. These POP catalysts were readily recovered via centrifugal separation and reused in six catalytic cycles without loss of activities. Thus, photosensitizer‐based POPs provide a promising platform for heterogeneous photocatalytic organic transformations.
Self‐sorting plays a crucial role in living systems such as the selective assembly of DNA and specific folding of proteins. However, the self‐sorting of artificial helical polymers such as ...biomacromolecules has rarely been achieved. In this work, single‐handed helical poly(phenyl isocyanide)s bearing pyrene (Py) and naphthalene (Np) probes were prepared, which exhibited interesting self‐sorting properties driven by both helicity and molecular weight (Mn) in solution, solid state, gel, and on the gel surface as well. The polymers with the same helix sense and similar Mn can self‐sort and assemble into well‐defined two‐dimensional smectic architectures and form stable gels in organic solvents. In contrast, mixed polymers with opposite handedness or different Mn were repulsive to each other and did not aggregate. Moreover, the gels of helical polymers with the same handedness and similar Mn can recognize themselves and adhere together to form a gel.
Single‐handed helical polymers can recognize themselves by discrimination of their helicity and molecular weight, and further self‐assemble into well‐defined two‐dimensional smectic architectures. Moreover, gels formed from the helical polymers can also recognize themselves based on helicity and molecular weight and can selectively adhere together to form one gel.
The potential of probiotics for treating ulcerative colitis (UC) has attracted increasing attention. However, more studies are still needed to guide physicians on the proper selection and use of ...probiotics. Here, we propose that combination of multiple probiotics with different functions can reduce intestinal inflammation. In this study, the effects of probiotics (
Lactobacillus reuteri
,
Bacillus coagulans
,
Bifidobacterium longum
, and
Clostridium butyricum
) on the physiology and histopathology of colon were evaluated in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mouse model. The combined species, as well as the species individually, were tested and compared with sulfasalazine (SASP) and two Chinese herbal therapies. Results show that the functions of the four probiotic strains were different in regulating intestinal immunity and barrier function. The four-species probiotic cocktail was more effective than the species individually and anti-inflammatory drugs in repairing the dysbiosis of mucosal microbial ecology and reducing intestinal inflammation. The multi-strain probiotic mixture increased the proportion of beneficial bacteria and decreased the proportion of pro-inflammatory bacteria in the colonic mucosa. In addition, probiotic mixture significantly enhanced the expression of IL-10 and intestinal barrier function. These results suggest that a combination of multiple probiotics with different functions has synergistic effects and can restore the balance of interactions between microorganisms and immunological niches.
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