The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly altered peoples' daily lives, and it continues spreading as a crucial concern globally. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward ...COVID-19 are related to individuals' adherence to government measures. This study evaluated KAP toward COVID-19 among university students in Japan between May 22 and July 16, 2020, via an online questionnaire, and it further investigated the associated determining KAP factors. Among the eligible respondents (n = 362), 52.8% were female, 79.0% were undergraduate students, 32.9% were students whose major university subjects were biology-related, 35.4% were from the capital region, and 83.7% were Japanese. The overall KAP of university students in Japan was high. All respondents (100%) showed they possessed knowledge on avoiding enclosed spaces, crowded areas, and close situations. Most respondents showed a moderate or higher frequency of washing their hands or wearing masks (both at 96.4%). In addition, 68.5% of respondents showed a positive attitude toward early drug administration. In the logistic regressions, gender, major subjects, education level, nationality, residence, and psychological factors (private self-consciousness and extroversion) were associated with knowledge or attitudes toward COVD-19 (p < 0.05). In the logistic and multiple linear regressions, capital regions, high basic knowledge, high information acquisition, correct information explanations contributed positively to preventative action (p < 0.05). Non-capital regions, male gender, non-bio-backgrounds, high public self-consciousness, high advanced knowledge, incorrect information explanations, and high extroversion contributed negatively to self-restraint (p < 0.05). Moreover, self-restraint was decreasing over time. These findings clarify the Japanese university students' KAP and the related factors in the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they may help university managers, experts, and policymakers control the future spread of COVID-19 and other emerging infections.
Planar chiral 2.2paracyclophane-based isothiourea catalysts have been prepared over a few simple steps in high yields. In the presence of these catalysts, highly efficient catalytic enantioselective ...fluorination of carboxylic acids has been accomplished, providing a broad range of optically active α-fluoroesters in high yield and excellent enantioselectivity.
ACSS1/2 converts acetate into acetyl‐coenzyme A, which contributes to histone acetylation in the mitochondria and cytoplasm. Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) is critical for embryo development ...involving drastic histone modification. An efficient crRNAs‐Cas13a targeting strategy was employed to investigate the ACSS1/2 function during ZGA. The results showed that nuclear accumulation of ACSS1 and ACSS2 occurs during ZGA. Knockdown of ACSS1/2 did not affect blastocyst formation when using a normal medium. On culturing embryos in a medium with acetate and no pyruvate (−P + Ace), knockdown of ACSS1 did not affect histone acetylation levels but significantly reduced ATP levels, whereas knockdown of ACSS2 significantly reduced histone acetylation levels in porcine embryos. Inhibition of fatty acid beta‐oxidation by etomoxir significantly reduced ATP levels, which could be restored by acetate. The histone acetylation levels in the ACSS1 and ACSS2 knockdown groups both decreased considerably after etomoxir treatment. Moreover, acetate showed dose‐dependent effects on SIRT1 and SIRT3 levels when under metabolic stress. The C‐terminus of ACSS1 regulated the nuclear translocation. In conclusion, ACSS1/2 helps to maintain ATP and histone acetylation levels in porcine early embryos under metabolic stress during ZGA.
New roles of acetyl‐CoA synthases have been implicated in early embryo development. ACSS1 and ACSS2 restore the histone acetylation level and promote early embryo development when under metabolic stress.
Three pairs of planar chiral heteroarenes were synthesized using palladium-catalyzed Buchwald–Hartwig coupling and hypervalent iodine-mediated oxidative cyclization from optically pure ...4-amino2.2paracyclophane. Among them, an enantiomer of planar chiral azahelicene was found to have circularly polarized luminescence activity that was remarkably stronger than that of planar chiral heteroarenes.
Functional polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)/graphene nanocomposite microcellular foams were prepared by blending of PMMA with graphene sheets followed by foaming with subcritical CO2 as an ...environmentally benign foaming agent. The addition of graphene sheets endows the insulating PMMA foams with high electrical conductivity and improved electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency with microwave absorption as the dominant EMI shielding mechanism. Interestingly, because of the presence of the numerous microcellular cells, the graphene−PMMA foam exhibits greatly improved ductility and tensile toughness compared to its bulk counterpart. This work provides a promising methodology to fabricate tough and lightweight graphene−PMMA nanocomposite microcellular foams with superior electrical and EMI shielding properties by simultaneously combining the functionality and reinforcement of the graphene sheets and the toughening effect of the microcellular cells.
Background and Aims
The loss of liver regenerative capacity is the most dramatic age‐associated alteration. Because of an incomplete mechanistic understanding of the liver aging process, a successful ...therapeutic strategy to improve liver regeneration in the elderly has not been developed so far. Hepatocyte plasticity is a principal mechanism for producing new hepatocytes and cholangiocytes during regeneration. This study aims to promote the repopulation capacity of elderly hepatocytes by decoding the underlying mechanism about the regulation of aging on human hepatocyte plasticity.
Approach and Results
To understand the age‐related mechanisms, we established a hepatocyte aging model from human‐induced pluripotent stem cells and developed a method for ex vivo characterization of hepatocyte plasticity. We found that hepatocyte plasticity was gradually diminished with aging, and the impaired plasticity was caused by age‐induced histone hypoacetylation. Notably, selective inhibition of histone deacetylases could markedly restore aging‐impaired plasticity. Based on these findings, we successfully improved the plasticity of elderly primary human hepatocytes that enhanced their repopulation capacity in the liver injury model.
Conclusions
This study suggests that age‐induced histone hypoacetylation impairs hepatocyte plasticity, and hepatocyte plasticity might be a therapeutic target for promoting the regenerative capacity of the elderly liver.
The sensitivity of breast cancer cells to epirubicin (EPI) is closely related to the efficacy of the drug and the prognosis of patients. A growing body of research has suggested that autophagy is ...involved in the treatment of a variety of cancers, including breast cancer, and modifies the sensitivity of anticancer drugs. However, the mechanism by which autophagy participates in cancer therapy and modulates drug sensitivity has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we showed that the expression of Autophagy/Beclin 1 regulator 1 (Ambra1), a key protein of autophagy, was negatively correlated with EPI sensitivity in breast cancer cells. In addition, it altered the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to EPI by regulating EPI‐induced autophagy. As a potential mechanism, we demonstrated that autophagy‐related protein 12 (ATG12) was a downstream protein that Ambra1‐regulated EPI‐induced autophagy. Therefore, Ambra1 plays an important role in regulating the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to EPI. And the regulatory effect of Ambra1 on EPI sensitivity is achieved through the regulation of autophagy by targeting ATG12. Overall, we propose a novel mechanism by which autophagy modulates the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to EPI. ATG12 is a novel targeting protein of Ambra1 in regulating EPI‐induced autophagy. In addition, the important role of Ambra1 in modulating the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to EPI is confirmed in vivo. This finding indicates that Ambra1 might be a target for developing breast cancer treatments.
Ambra1 plays an important role in regulating the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to Epirubicin (EPI). ATG12 is a novel targeting protein of Ambra1 in regulating EPI‐induced autophagy
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The eutrophication status in the central Bohai Sea tends to be mitigated in recent years. To explore the recent nutrient status, seasonal surveys were carried out from 2018 to 2021, covering both the ...Bohai Sea and the adjacent North Yellow Sea. In recent cold seasons, both dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentration (DIN) and the ratio of DIN to soluble reactive phosphorus were lower than those in 2016. In warm seasons, the variations in nutrients and apparent oxygen utilization were correlated with each other, roughly following the traditional Redfield ratio of N:P:O2 of approximately 16:1:(−138). When historical data for N*, which is the excess DIN related to soluble reactive phosphorus, was collated, the Bohai Sea showed a decreasing trend for N* at a rate of −0.64 ± 0.12 μmol N* kg−1 a−1 between 2011 and 2021. During the same period, the North Yellow Sea N* concentrations (i.e., the oceanic end-member of the Bohai Sea N* dynamics) and the local atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition (atmospheric end-member) were estimated to decline at rates of −0.22 ± 0.04 μmol N* kg−1 a−1 and − 0.93 ± 0.34 kg N ha−1 a−2, respectively. Consequently, the oceanic and atmospheric changes accounted for 25.7 % ± 28.4 % and 69.0 % ± 42.6 %, respectively, of the Bohai Sea eutrophication mitigation in 2011–2021. On the long-term changes of the Bohai Sea eutrophication, the terrestrial nutrient source has only minor (likely <10 %) impacts, although it certainly affects the spatial distribution of nutrients. This study has implied that coastal eutrophication is a dynamic process that is subject to sea–land–air interactions, and its mitigation needs both local pollution controls and regional environment management. The latter contains the understanding of oceanic changes and external effects of the air pollution control.
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•Eutrophication has been mitigated in the Bohai Sea in the 2010s.•Reductions in atmospheric and oceanic nitrogen explain this change.•Terrestrial nutrients mainly affect nearshore nutrient dynamics in the Bohai Sea.
The side effects of cisplatin (CDDP), notably nephrotoxicity, greatly limited its use in clinical chemotherapy. HuangQi Injections (HI), a commonly used preparation of the well-known Chinese herbal ...medicine Astragali radix, appeared to be promising treatment for nephrotoxicity without compromising the anti-tumor activity of CDDP. In this study, the urinary metabolomics approach using liquid chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF/MS) was developed to assess the toxicity-attenuation effects and corresponding mechanisms of HI on CDDP-exposed rats. As a result, successive administration of HI significantly recovered the decline of body weight and downregulated the abnormal increase of serum creatinine and urea. HI partly restored the CDDP-induced alteration of metabolic profiling back into normal condition. Totally 43 toxicity-attenuation potential biomarkers were screened and tentatively identified, which were involved in important metabolic pathways such as amino acid metabolism, TCA cycle, fatty acid metabolism, vitamin B6 metabolism and purine metabolism. The results clearly revealed that HI could alleviate CDDP-induced nephrotoxicity and improve the disturbed metabolic balance induced by repeated CDDP exposure. The present study provided reliable evidence for the protective effect of HI on CDDP-induced toxicity with the multi-target pharmacological characteristics.
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![[2.2]Paracyclophane-Based I...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/1523-7060/small "[2.2]Paracyclophane-Based Isothiourea-Catalyzed Highly Enantioselective α‑Fluorination of Carboxylic Acids")
