Abstract
Background
Recent studies have focused on initial clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is the mainly revealing situation in Wuhan, ...Hubei.
Aim
This study aims to reveal more data on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients outside of Wuhan, Zhejiang, China.
Design
This study was a retrospective case series.
Methods
Eighty-eight cases of laboratory-confirmed and three cases of clinically confirmed COVID-19 were admitted to five hospitals in Zhejiang province, China. Data were collected from 20 January 2020 to 11 February 2020.
Results and discussion
Of all 91 patients, 88 (96.70%) were laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 with throat swab samples that tested positive for SARS-Cov-2, three (3.30%) cases were clinically diagnosed. The median age of the patients was 50 (36.5–57) years, and female accounted for 59.34%. In this sample, 40 (43.96%) patients had contracted the disease from local cases, 31 (34.07%) patients had been to Wuhan/Hubei, eight (8.79%) patients had contacted with people from Wuhan, and 11 (12.09%) patients were diagnosed after having flown together in the same flight with no passenger that could later be identified as the source of infection. In particular within the city of Ningbo, 60.52% cases can be traced back to an event held in a temple. The most common symptoms were fever (71.43%), cough (60.44%) and fatigue (43.96%). The median of incubation period was 6 (interquartile range 3–8) days and the median time from the first visit to a doctor to the confirmed diagnosis was 1 (1–2) days. According to the chest computed tomography scans, 67.03% cases had bilateral pneumonia.
Conclusions
Social activity cluster, family cluster and flying alongside with persons already infected with COVID-19 were how people got infected with COVID-19 in Zhejiang.
Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-exos), with its inherent capacity to modulate cellular behavior, are emerging as a novel cell-free therapy for bone regeneration. Herein, focusing on ...practical applying problems, the osteoinductivity of MSC-exos produced by different stem cell sources (rBMSCs/rASCs) and culture conditions (osteoinductive/common) were systematically compared to screen out an optimized osteogenic exosome (BMSC-OI-exo). Via bioinformatic analyses by miRNA microarray and in vitro pathway verification by gene silencing and miRNA transfection, we first revealed that the osteoinductivity of BMSC-OI-exo was attributed to multi-component exosomal miRNAs (let-7a-5p, let-7c-5p, miR-328a-5p and miR-31a-5p). These miRNAs targeted Acvr2b/Acvr1 and regulated the competitive balance of Bmpr2/Acvr2b toward Bmpr-elicited Smad1/5/9 phosphorylation. On these bases, lyophilized delivery of BMSC-OI-exo on hierarchical mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) scaffold was developed to realize bioactivity maintenance and sustained release by entrapment in the surface microporosity of the scaffold. In a rat cranial defect model, the loading of BMSC-OI-exo efficiently enhanced the bone forming capacity of the scaffold and induced rapid initiation of bone regeneration. This paper could provide empirical bases of MSC-exo-based therapy for bone regeneration and theoretical bases of MSC-exo-induced osteogenesis mechanism. The BMSC-OI-exo-loaded MBG scaffold developed here represented a promising bone repairing strategy for future clinical application.
Urinary exosomes containing apical membrane and intracellular fluid are normally secreted into the urine from all nephron segments, and may carry protein markers of renal dysfunction and structural ...injury. We aimed to discover biomarkers in urinary exosomes to detect acute kidney injury (AKI), which has a high mortality and morbidity. Animals were injected with cisplatin. Urinary exosomes were isolated by differential centrifugation. Protein changes were evaluated by two-dimensional difference in gel electrophoresis and changed proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. The identified candidate biomarkers were validated by Western blotting in individual urine samples from rats subjected to cisplatin injection; bilateral ischemia and reperfusion (I/R); volume depletion; and intensive care unit (ICU) patients with and without AKI. We identified 18 proteins that were increased and nine proteins that were decreased 8h after cisplatin injection. Most of the candidates could not be validated by Western blotting. However, exosomal Fetuin-A increased 52.5-fold at day 2 (1 day before serum creatinine increase and tubule damage) and remained elevated 51.5-fold at day 5 (peak renal injury) after cisplatin injection. By immunoelectron microscopy and elution studies, Fetuin-A was located inside urinary exosomes. Urinary Fetuin-A was increased 31.6-fold in the early phase (2–8h) of I/R, but not in prerenal azotemia. Urinary exosomal Fetuin-A also increased in three ICU patients with AKI compared to the patients without AKI. We conclude that (1) proteomic analysis of urinary exosomes can provide biomarker candidates for the diagnosis of AKI and (2) urinary Fetuin-A might be a predictive biomarker of structural renal injury.
A radiation-reaction trapping (RRT) of electrons is revealed in the near-QED regime of laser-plasma interaction. Electrons quivering in laser pulse experience radiation reaction (RR) recoil force by ...radiating photons. When the laser field reaches the threshold, the RR force becomes significant enough to compensate for the expelling laser ponderomotive force. Then electrons are trapped inside the laser pulse instead of being scattered off transversely and form a dense plasma bunch. The mechanism is demonstrated both by full three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations using the QED photonic approach and numerical test-particle modeling based on the classical Landau-Lifshitz formula of RR force. Furthermore, the proposed analysis shows that the threshold of laser field amplitude for RRT is approximately the cubic root of laser wavelength over classical electron radius. Because of the pinching effect of the trapped electron bunch, the required laser intensity for RRT can be further reduced.
Aluminum (Al) is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust and is not an essential element for plant growth. In contrast, nitrogen (N) is the most important mineral element for plant growth, but ...this non-metal is often present at low levels in soils, and plants are often N deficient. Aluminum toxicity is dominant in acid soils, and so plants growing in acid soils have to overcome both Al toxicity and N limitation. Because of low N-use efficiency, large amounts of N fertilizers are applied to crop fields to achieve high yields, leading to soil acidification and potential Al toxicity. Aluminum lowers plant N uptake and N-use efficiency because Al inhibits root growth. Although numerous studies have investigated the interactions between Al and N, a complete review of these studies was lacking. This review describes: (1) the link between plant Al tolerance and ammonium/nitrate (NH
/NO
) preference; (2) the effects of NH
/NO
and pH on Al toxicity; (3) the effects of Al on soil N transformations; and (4) the effects of Al on NH
/NO
uptake and assimilation by plants. Acid soils are characterized chemically by a relatively high ratio of NH
to NO
and high concentrations of toxic Al. Aluminum-tolerant plants generally prefer NH
as an N source, while Al-sensitive plants prefer NO
. Compared with NO
, NH
increases the solubilization of toxic Al into soil solutions, but NH
generally alleviates Al phytotoxicity under solution culture because the protons from NH
compete with Al
for adsorption sites on the root surface. Plant NO
uptake and nitrate reductase activity are both inhibited by Al, while plant NH
uptake is inhibited to a smaller degree than NO
. Together, the results of numerous studies indicate that there is a synergistic interaction between plant Al tolerance and NH
nutrition. This has important implications for the adaptation of plants to acid soils that are dominated chemically by toxic Al as well as NH
. Finally, we discuss how this knowledge can be used to increase plant Al tolerance and N-use efficiency in acid soils.
Aim
Irisin, a novel myocyte‐secreted hormone mediating beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism, is supposed to be an ideal therapeutic target for metabolic disorders such as obesity and ...diabetes. Here, we investigated the potential effects of metformin and glibenclamide, two antidiabetic medicines, on irisin release in mouse.
Methods
Wild‐type and diabetic obese db/db mice were administrated with metformin and glibenclamide for 2 weeks, and cultured C2C12 myotubes were treated by metformin. Expression of irisin precursor FNDC5 was measured and blood irisin concentration was detected. AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) was blocked by chemical inhibitor compound C or knocking down with specific siRNA.
Results
The mRNA and protein expression of FNDC5 in skeletal muscle and blood irisin concentrations were lower in diabetic db/db mice than those in wild‐type mice. Metformin and glibenclamide decreased blood glucose in db/db mice. Metformin, but not glibenclamide, increased intramuscular FNDC5 mRNA/protein expression and blood irisin levels. Additionally, the reductions of blood glucose and body weight in metformin‐treated db/db mice were positively associated with blood irisin concentrations. In C2C12 myotubes, metformin upregulated intracellular FDNC5 mRNA/protein expression and promoted irisin release. Although metformin activated AMPK signalling in skeletal muscle cells, disrupting of AMPK signalling by chemical inhibitor or siRNA‐mediated knockdown did not abolish the promoting effect of metformin on irisin release.
Conclusion
Metformin promotes irisin release from murine skeletal muscle into blood, independently of AMPK pathway activation. Our results suggest that stimulation of irisin may be a novel molecular mechanism of metformin which is widely used for treatment of metabolic disorders.
Intense laser-plasma ion sources are characterized by an unsurpassed acceleration gradient and exceptional beam emittance. They are promising candidates for next-generation accelerators towards a ...broad range of potential applications. However, the laser-accelerated ion beams available currently have limitations in energy spread and peak energy. Here, we propose and demonstrate an all-optical single laser scheme to generate proton beams with low spread at about 1% level and hundred MeV energy by irradiating the edge of a microtape with a readily available femtosecond petawatt laser. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that when the electron beam extracted from both sides of the tape is injected into vacuum, a longitudinal bunching and transverse focusing field is self-established because of its huge charge (about 100 nC) and small divergence. Protons are accelerated and bunched simultaneously, leading to a monoenergetic high-energy proton beam. The proposed scheme opens a new route for the development of future compact ion sources.
Finding a needle in a haystack: A new technology is demonstrated to enrich circulating tumor cells (CTCs) with high efficiency by integrating an antibody‐coated silicon nanopillar (SiNP, see picture; ...gray) substrate with an overlaid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chaotic mixer (turquoise). It shows significantly improved sensitivity in detecting rare CTCs from whole blood, thus providing an alternative for monitoring cancer progression.
High‐spatial resolution textural and geochemical data from thin slip surfaces in exhumed fault zones archive thermal and rheological signatures of past fault slip. A network of minor, glossy, ...iridescent silica fault mirrors (FMs) cut Paleoproterozoic gneiss in the Wasatch fault zone (WFZ), Utah. We report field to nanoscale observations from scanning electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy of a silica FM to infer deformation mechanisms during FM development. The FM volume comprises a ∼40–90 μm‐thick basal layer of sintered, µm‐ to nm‐diameter silica particles with polygonal to anhedral morphologies, pervasive crystalline Ti‐bearing phases containing measurable N, and µm‐ to nm‐scale void spaces. Silica particles lack shape and crystallographic preferred orientation and some are predominantly amorphous with internal crystalline domains. The basal layer is overlain by a ∼10–130 nm‐thick, chemically heterogeneous, amorphous film at the FM interface. Mass balance calculations of Ti in the basal layer and host rock indicate the FM volume can be sourced from the underlying gneiss. Multiple textural and geochemical lines of evidence, including N substitution in Ti‐bearing phases, support temperature rise during deformation, associated amorphization of host gneiss, and creation of the FM volume. During thermal decay, interstitial anatase and titanite fully crystallized, silica textures capture their incipient crystallization, and some residual elements are solidified in the nanofilm. Our results support a mechanism of weakening and re‐strengthening of silica FM during fault slip and, together with data from adjacent hematite FMs, record shallow, ancient microseismicity in the WFZ.
Key Points
Silica fault mirrors comprise a basal layer of variable silica crystallinity and interstitial anatase, with an overlying amorphous nanofilm
Textures and geochemistry support coseismic temperature rise, host gneiss amorphization, and incipient crystallization of fault mirror
Silica fault mirrors likely accommodated shallow, ancient microseismicity in the Wasatch fault damage zone
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