The current outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) poses unprecedented challenges to global health
. The new coronavirus responsible for this outbreak-severe acute respiratory syndrome ...coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-shares high sequence identity to SARS-CoV and a bat coronavirus, RaTG13
. Although bats may be the reservoir host for a variety of coronaviruses
, it remains unknown whether SARS-CoV-2 has additional host species. Here we show that a coronavirus, which we name pangolin-CoV, isolated from a Malayan pangolin has 100%, 98.6%, 97.8% and 90.7% amino acid identity with SARS-CoV-2 in the E, M, N and S proteins, respectively. In particular, the receptor-binding domain of the S protein of pangolin-CoV is almost identical to that of SARS-CoV-2, with one difference in a noncritical amino acid. Our comparative genomic analysis suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may have originated in the recombination of a virus similar to pangolin-CoV with one similar to RaTG13. Pangolin-CoV was detected in 17 out of the 25 Malayan pangolins that we analysed. Infected pangolins showed clinical signs and histological changes, and circulating antibodies against pangolin-CoV reacted with the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. The isolation of a coronavirus from pangolins that is closely related to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that these animals have the potential to act as an intermediate host of SARS-CoV-2. This newly identified coronavirus from pangolins-the most-trafficked mammal in the illegal wildlife trade-could represent a future threat to public health if wildlife trade is not effectively controlled.
Abstract
Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been applied in many fields due to their superior catalytic performance. Because of the unique properties of the single-atom-site, using the single atoms as ...catalysts to synthesize SACs is promising. In this work, we have successfully achieved Co
1
SAC using Pt
1
atoms as catalysts. More importantly, this synthesis strategy can be extended to achieve Fe and Ni SACs as well. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) results demonstrate that the achieved Fe, Co, and Ni SACs are in a M
1
-pyrrolic N
4
(M= Fe, Co, and Ni) structure. Density functional theory (DFT) studies show that the Co(Cp)
2
dissociation is enhanced by Pt
1
atoms, thus leading to the formation of Co
1
atoms instead of nanoparticles. These SACs are also evaluated under hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and the nature of active sites under HER are unveiled by the
operando
XAS studies. These new findings extend the application fields of SACs to catalytic fabrication methodology, which is promising for the rational design of advanced SACs.
Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been demonstrated to closely associate with gene regulation and encompass the well-known microRNAs (miRNAs), as well as the most recently acknowledged long noncoding RNAs ...(lncRNAs). Current evidence indicates that lncRNAs can interact with miRNAs and these interactions play crucial roles in cancer metastasis, through regulating critical events especially the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This review summarizes the types of lncRNA-miRNA crosstalk identified to-date and discusses their influence on the epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity and clinical metastatic implication.
In this study, we have developed a novel catalyst synthesized by phosphotungstic acid and a gemini quaternary ammonium cation salt. This quaternary ammonium salt not only reduces the interfacial ...tension between olefins and hydrogen peroxide but also forms a notably stable structure with phosphotungstic acid. Dodecene was successfully epoxidized to epoxy dodecane with a selectivity of 82.9 %. The impact of initial conditions was systematically investigated such as molar ratio, temperature, reaction time, and catalyst dosage on the catalytic performance. Characterization of the catalyst morphology was performed by SEM, TEM and SAXS. Raman spectra, FT‐IR and XPS spectra were employed to perform the catalyst transformation during the epoxidation reaction. This catalytic mechanism study could provide the industrial application in the epoxidation of long‐chain olefins.
A novel phase transfer catalyst comprising phosphotungstic acid and biquaternary ammonium cation salt is synthesized for the epoxidation of long carbon chain olefins under solvent‐free conditions, which exhibits high selectivity for epoxides. Different methods are used to characterize the fundamental structure and catalytic mechanism of this catalyst.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) presents a microvascular complication of diabetes, which may contribute to visual impairment. The treatment of DR is still controversial. Accumulating studies have reported ...the role of microRNAs (miRs) in DR. This study aims to explore the functions of microRNA‐384‐3p (miR‐384‐3p) in retinal neovascularization by targeting hexokinase 2 (HK2) in mice with DR. A total of 43 C57BL/6 male mice were selected and divided into normal (
n = 16) and DR (
n = 27) groups. Retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RMECs) were collected from the normal and DR mice and mainly treated with a miR‐384‐3p mimic, a miR‐384‐3p inhibitor, small interfering RNA (siRNA) against HK2 and HK2 overexpression plasmids to understand the underlying regulatory mechanisms of miR‐384‐3p. The relationship between miR‐384‐3p and HK2 was determined by dual‐luciferase reporter assay. The miR‐384‐3p expression and the mRNA and the protein expressions of HK2 and CD31 in retinal tissues and cells were evaluated using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) and western blot assay. Cell proliferation was assessed by 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Tube formation was observed by conducting a tube formation experiment. HK2 is a target gene of miR‐384‐3p. The DR mice showed higher expression of HK2 and CD31 but lower expression of miR‐384‐3p. The miR‐384‐3p mimic and siRNA‐HK2 reduced the expression of HK2, decreased cell proliferation and tube formation of RMECs, whereas the miR‐384‐3p inhibitor could reverse these trends. Our study demonstrates that overexpression of miR‐384‐3p inhibits retinal neovascularization in DR mice via inhibition of HK2.
A miR‐384‐3p mimic and siRNA‐hexokinase (HK2) reduced the expression of HK2, decreased cell proliferation and tube formation of RMECs, whereas a miR‐384‐3p inhibitor could reverse these trends. Our study demonstrates that overexpression of miR‐384‐3p inhibits retinal neovascularization in diabetic retinopathy mice via inhibition of HK2.
Recently, many studies explored the role of inflammation parameters such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the prognosis of urinary cancers, but the results were not consistent.
We carried ...out a meta-analysis of published studies to assess the prognostic value of NLR in patients with urinary cancers. Hazard ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to assess the association of NLR and OS and RFS/CSS.
The pooled results showed that high NLR was a poor predictor for OS with HR of 1.81 (95%CI: 1.48-2.21; Pheterogeneity = 0.005) and RFS/CSS (HR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.65-2.6; Pheterogeneity = 0.849). Subgroup analyses revealed that high NLR yielded a worse OS in RCC (HR = 1.9, 95%CI: 1.47-2.45; Pheterogeneity = 0.003) and a poor RFS/CSS in RCC (HR = 1.83, 95%CI: 1.35-2.48; Pheterogeneity = 0.709), bladder cancer (HR = 2.2, 95%CI: 1.27-3.8; Pheterogeneity = 0.447) and urothelial carcinoma (HR = 2.58, 95%CI: 1.66-4.01; Pheterogeneity = 0.784).
Our results showed that NLR could act as a significant biomarker in the prognosis of urinary cancers.
Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted extensive attention owing to their high catalytic activity. The development of efficient SACs is crucial for applications in heterogeneous catalysis. In ...this article, the geometric configuration, electronic structure, stabilitiy and catalytic performance of phosphorene (Pn) supported single metal atoms (M=Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt, and Au) have been systematically investigated using density functional theory calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The single atoms are found to occupy the hollow site of phosphorene. Among the catalysts studied, Ru‐decorated phosphorene is determined to be a potential catalyst by evaluating adsorption energies of gaseous molecules. Various mechanisms including the Eley‐Rideal (ER), Langmuir‐Hinshelwood (LH) and trimolecular Eley‐Rideal (TER) mechanisms are considered to validate the most favourable reaction pathway. Our results reveal that Ru−Pn exhibits outstanding catalytic activity toward CO oxidation reaction via TER mechanism with the corresponding rate‐determining energy barrier of 0.44 eV, making it a very promising SAC for CO oxidation under mild conditions. Overall, this work may provide a new avenue for the design and fabrication of two‐dimensional materials supported SACs for low‐temperature CO oxidation.
Monolayer phosphorene (Pn) supported single‐atom catalysts (SACs) with strong metal‐support interactions were designed, in which Ru−Pn SAC exhibits outstanding thermal stability and superior CO oxidation catalytic performance. This kind of material of phosphorene supported SACs may become promising for CO oxidation with high activity.
Most resistance-type humidity sensors exhibit negative humidity sensitivity, i.e., their resistance decreases with a corresponding increase in humidity. This is primarily attributed to the dominant ...role of ionic conduction in adsorbed water. In this work, a humidity sensor based on a p-type reduced graphene oxide (p-rGO) with positive humidity sensitivity is proposed. Moreover, its positive humidity sensing response is further enhanced by n-type WS
2
nanoparticles modification. The results show that both rGO and rGO/WS
2
humidity sensors have good linear response in the relative humidity (RH) range of 0% − 91.5%. The sensitivity of the rGO/WS
2
humidity sensor is 1.87 times that of rGO humidity sensor, which is mainly attributed to p–n heterojunction between rGO and WS
2
. Besides, the rGO/WS
2
humidity sensor has small humidity hysteresis (~ 3% RH) and good repeatability. This work demonstrates a humidity sensor based on rGO/WS
2
composite film and provides a facile route for fabricating humidity sensor with positive humidity sensing properties.
Graphic Abstract
This meta‐analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the addition of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCMs) to capecitabine‐based regimens for colorectal cancer (CRC) in term of ...tumor. The eight electronic databases including Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Excerpt Medica Database (Embase), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Science and Technology Journals (CQVIP), and Wanfang Database were systematically searched for eligible studies from their inception to March 2021. Thirty‐nine randomized controlled trials were involved in this study, and all the data were analyzed by Review Manager 5.3 (Nordic Cochran Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark) and R 4.0.5 software. The meta‐analyses suggested that TCMs in combination with capecitabine‐based regimens increased objective response rate (ORR) in the palliative treatment of CRC (risk ratio RR, 1.35 1.17, 1.55, I2 = 0%), disease control rate (DCR) (RR, 1.22 1.12, 1.32, I2 = 3%), and quality of life (QOL) (RR, 1.71 1.44, 2.03, I2 = 0%), with decreased risks of myelosuppression, anemia, thrombocytopenia, liver/renal dysfunction, neurotoxicity, nausea/vomiting, neutropenia, diarrhea, leukopenia, improved the peripheral lymphocyte, reduced the expression of tumor markers, and related factors. Further sensitivity analysis of specific plant‐based TCMs found that dangshen, fuling, and gancao had significantly higher contributions to the results of the RR. The results show that capecitabine‐based chemotherapy combined with TCM in the treatment of CRC increases the efficiency of ORR and DCR, reduces chemotherapeutic agents‐associated adverse reactions, and improves their life quality as compared with chemotherapy alone, but further randomized and large sample of studies are needed.
Our research found that the combination of TCM and capecitabine‐based chemotherapy was more effective than the capecitabine‐only regimen. Additionally, it has the potential to decrease adverse responses in patients, enhance survival rates and the body's capacity to fight off infection, lower tumor marker expression levels, and even slow tumor development. Specific TCMs may have the potential to improve the efficacy of capecitabine‐based chemotherapy for CRC.
Background
Cadmium is a ubiquitous toxic heavy metal and environmental toxicant. Inflammation exerts central roles in the process of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, few ...epidemiological studies on the correlation between cadmium exposure and COPD are available. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlations among serum cadmium, inflammatory cytokines and pulmonary function in COPD patients.
Methods
All 940 COPD patients were finally recruited in this study. Demographic characteristics and clinical information were extracted. Fasting serum was collected. Serum cadmium was detected through graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Serum inflammatory cytokines were measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay.
Results
All patients were classified into three groups according to the tertile division of serum cadmium concentration: low (<0.77 μg/L, L), medium (0.77–1.01 μg/L, M), and high (1.01 μg/L, H). Logistic regression analysis found that serum cadmium was inversely correlated with pulmonary function before and after adjusted confounding variables. When stratified by gender, serum cadmium was still negatively correlated with pulmonary function in COPD patients. Moreover, higher serum cadmium elevated CAT (COPD Assessment Test) score before and after adjusted confounding variables. Though a non‐linear association between serum cadmium and inflammatory cytokines, serum cadmium was positively associated with inflammatory cytokines (TNF‐α and MCP‐1). TNF‐α and MCP‐1 exerted a partial mediator in the association between cadmium exposure and pulmonary function decline in COPD patients.
Conclusions
Serum cadmium concentration is inversely correlated with pulmonary function among COPD patients. Inflammatory cytokines may be important mediators for cadmium‐induced pulmonary function decline in COPD patients.
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