The duration of protection afforded by coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines in the United States is unclear. Whether the increase in postvaccination infections during the summer of 2021 was ...caused by declining immunity over time, the emergence of the B.1.617.2 (delta) variant, or both is unknown.
We extracted data regarding Covid-19-related vaccination and outcomes during a 9-month period (December 11, 2020, to September 8, 2021) for approximately 10.6 million North Carolina residents by linking data from the North Carolina Covid-19 Surveillance System and the Covid-19 Vaccine Management System. We used a Cox regression model to estimate the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech), mRNA-1273 (Moderna), and Ad26.COV2.S (Johnson & Johnson-Janssen) vaccines in reducing the current risks of Covid-19, hospitalization, and death, as a function of time elapsed since vaccination.
For the two-dose regimens of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines BNT162b2 (30 μg per dose) and mRNA-1273 (100 μg per dose), vaccine effectiveness against Covid-19 was 94.5% (95% confidence interval CI, 94.1 to 94.9) and 95.9% (95% CI, 95.5 to 96.2), respectively, at 2 months after the first dose and decreased to 66.6% (95% CI, 65.2 to 67.8) and 80.3% (95% CI, 79.3 to 81.2), respectively, at 7 months. Among early recipients of BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273, effectiveness decreased by approximately 15 and 10 percentage points, respectively, from mid-June to mid-July, when the delta variant became dominant. For the one-dose regimen of Ad26.COV2.S (5 × 10
viral particles), effectiveness against Covid-19 was 74.8% (95% CI, 72.5 to 76.9) at 1 month and decreased to 59.4% (95% CI, 57.2 to 61.5) at 5 months. All three vaccines maintained better effectiveness in preventing hospitalization and death than in preventing infection over time, although the two mRNA vaccines provided higher levels of protection than Ad26.COV2.S.
All three Covid-19 vaccines had durable effectiveness in reducing the risks of hospitalization and death. Waning protection against infection over time was due to both declining immunity and the emergence of the delta variant. (Funded by a Dennis Gillings Distinguished Professorship and the National Institutes of Health.).
Transport through the cell membrane can be divided into active, passive and vesicular types (exosomes). Exosomes are nano‐sized vesicles released by a variety of cells. Emerging evidence shows that ...exosomes play a critical role in cancers. Exosomes mediate communication between stroma and cancer cells through the transfer of nucleic acid and proteins. It is demonstrated that the contents and the quantity of exosomes will change after occurrence of cancers. Over the last decade, growing attention has been paid to the role of exosomes in the development of breast cancer, the most life‐threatening cancer in women. Breast cancer could induce salivary glands to secret specific exosomes, which could be used as biomarkers in the diagnosis of early breast cancer. Exosome‐delivered nucleic acid and proteins partly facilitate the tumorigenesis, metastasis and resistance of breast cancer. Exosomes could also transmit anti‐cancer drugs outside breast cancer cells, therefore leading to drug resistance. However, exosomes are effective tools for transportation of anti‐cancer drugs with lower immunogenicity and toxicity. This is a promising way to establish a drug delivery system.
Exosomes are nano‐sized vesicles released by a variety of cells. Exosomes function as versatile promoters in the tumorigenesis, metastasis and drug resistance of breast cancer. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about the functions of exosomes in the diagnosis, tumorigenesis, metastasis, microenvironment, drug resistance and therapy of breast cancer.
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•Six types of Mg-loaded biochars were synthesized for NH4+-N and TP adsorption.•Mg2+ exchange is dominant mechanism for ammonium adsorption on Mg-loaded biochars.•Precipitation and ...electrostatic attraction were the possible TP sorption mechanisms.•Magnesium content and PVtot were predominant factors affecting biochar sorption.•Mg-loaded biochars have a great potential in treatment of waste water.
Herein, biochars from 6 different feedstocks (taro straw, corn straw, cassava straw, Chinese fir straw, banana straw, and Camellia oleifera shell) were produced using magnesium chloride (MgCl2) as a modifier due to their sorption behavior toward NH4+-N and phosphorus in an aqueous solution. The biochar characteristics were evaluated, including pH, pHPZC, biochar magnesium content, and total pore volume (PVtot). The experimental results in terms of the kinetics and equilibrium isotherms showed that the cassava straw and banana straw biochars exhibited the theoretical maximum saturated adsorption capacities of 24.04 mg·g−1 (NH4+-N) and 31.15 mg·g−1 (TP), respectively. Biochar produced from these feedstocks had higher magnesium contents and greater total pore volumes, reflecting the significant contributions from magnesium and steric effects. FTIR, XRD, and SEM/EDS analyses demonstrated that NH4+-N and TP sorption mechanisms predominantly involved surface electrostatic attraction, Mg2+ precipitates and complexation with surface hydroxyl functional groups.
Fifteen new diterpenoids, namely xishaklyanes A-O (
-
), along with three known related ones (
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), were isolated from the soft coral
collected from Xisha Islands, South China Sea. The ...stereochemistry of the new compounds was elucidated by a combination of detailed spectroscopic analyses, chemical derivatization, quantum chemical calculations, and comparison with the reported data. The absolute configuration of compound
was established by the modified Mosher's method for the first time. In bioassay, some of these compounds exhibited considerable antibacterial activities on fish pathogenic bacteria, and compound
showed the most effective activity with MIC of 0.225 μg/mL against
.
Summary
Viruses can affect microbial dynamics, metabolism and biogeochemical cycles in aquatic ecosystems. However, viral diversity and functions in agricultural soils are poorly known, especially in ...the rhizosphere. We used virome analysis of eight rhizosphere and bulk soils to study viral diversity and potential biogeochemical impacts in an agro‐ecosystem. The order Caudovirales was the predominant viral type in agricultural soils, with Siphoviridae being the most abundant family. Phylogenetic analysis of the terminase large subunit of Caudovirales identified high viral diversity and three novel groups. Viral community composition differed significantly between bulk and rhizosphere soils. Soil pH was the main environmental driver of the viral community structure. Remarkably, abundant auxiliary carbohydrate‐active enzyme (CAZyme) genes were detected in viromes, including glycoside hydrolases, carbohydrate esterases and carbohydrate‐binding modules. These results demonstrate that virus‐encoded putative auxiliary metabolic genes or metabolic genes that may change bacterial metabolism and indirectly contribute to biogeochemical cycling, especially carbon cycling, in agricultural soil.
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•A robust MXene/CNTs/Cotton fabric is prepared as solar steam generation.•This fabric exhibits superior evaporation rate and energy conversion efficiency.•The concentrations of ...organic–inorganic contaminants can be well reduced.•The reusability and outdoor steam generation performance are investigated.
The development of effective and low-cost techniques to purify textile wastewater has received intensive attention, but the applicability and practicality of many methods still remain challenging. Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation is a promising method and herein, a novel MXene/Carbon nanotubes/Cotton fabric was fabricated via layer-by-layer assembly to be used as solar steam generation for textile wastewater purification. Benefiting from the strong interfacial interactions, the composite fabric exhibited robust optical absorption, light-to-thermal conversion, and water transport properties. The evaporation rate reaches 1.35 kg m−2 for water and > 1.16 kg m−2h−1 for textile wastewater under one sun illumination, which is superior to those fabric-based materials in reported literature. The concentrations of organic–inorganic contaminants in condensed freshwater can be well reduced, which is always ignored but important to actual application. Furthermore, the reusability test and outdoor experiment were performed to demonstrate the photothermal properties when applied in practical situation. In sum, the results demonstrated that high-efficiency and durable properties coupled with simple preparation process make this composite material a potential candidate for wastewater purification via solar-evaporation.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to dysregulate and involve in the pathology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nonetheless, the functional role of lncRNA T cell leukemia/lymphoma 6 ...(TCL6) and its underlying mechanism in HCC remain unclear. Herein, we analyzed the expression of TCL6 and elucidated its mechanistic involvement in HCC. Bioinformatics analyses indicated TCL6 was evidently downregulated in HCC tissues compared with normal controls. TCL6 was downregulated while microRNA‐106a‐5p (miR‐106a‐5p) was upregulated in HCC cell lines. Moreover, knockdown or overexpression of TCL6 significantly raised or diminished the expression level of miR‐106a‐5p in HCC cells, similar to the effect of miR‐106a‐5p on TCL6 expression. Functionally, TCL6 inhibited the proliferative, migratory, and invasive potentials of HCC cells as analyzed by cell counting kit‐8, scratch wound healing, and transwell assays, respectively. Conversely, miR‐106a‐5p exerted an opposite effect on the proliferative, migratory, and invasive potentials of HCC. RNA immune precipitation and luciferase reporter assays revealed TCL6 directly bound to miR‐106a‐5p and luciferase reporter assay verified phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) was a target gene of miR‐106a‐5p. Mechanistically, TCL6 knockdown evidently reduced PTEN expression at both messenger RNA and protein levels, and miR‐106a‐5p inhibitor partially rescued this reduction effect in HCC cells. Additionally, western blot assays demonstrated miR‐106a‐5p downregulation or TCL6 overexpression promoted the protein level of PTEN, and suppressed the phosphorylation level of AKT, the protein level of phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase (PI3K). Collectively, these results revealed TCL6 as a tumor‐suppressive lncRNA regulates PI3K/AKT signaling pathway via directly binding to miR‐106a‐5p in HCC. This mechanism provides a theoretical basis for HCC pathogenesis and a potential therapeutic strategy for HCC treatment.
Long noncoding RNA T cell leukemia/lymphoma 6 (TCL6) was found to directly bind to microRNA‐106a‐5p (miR‐106a‐5p) to suppress the proliferation, migration, and invasion via phosphatidylinositol 3‐kinase/AKT signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This work not only provides a theoretical basis for a better understanding of the mechanism of TCL6 in HCC but also indicated that TCL6 or miR‐106a might be considered as a biomarker in HCC.
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