The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is emerging as a global health threat and shows a higher risk for men than women. Thus far, the studies on andrological consequences of COVID-19 are ...limited. To ascertain the consequences of COVID-19 on sperm parameters after recovery, we recruited 41 reproductive-aged male patients who had recovered from COVID-19, and analyzed their semen parameters and serum sex hormones at a median time of 56 days after hospital discharge. For longitudinal analysis, a second sampling was obtained from 22 of the 41 patients after a median time interval of 29 days from first sampling. Compared with controls who had not suffered from COVID-19, the total sperm count, sperm concentration, and percentages of motile and progressively motile spermatozoa in the patients were significantly lower at first sampling, while sperm vitality and morphology were not affected. The total sperm count, sperm concentration, and number of motile spermatozoa per ejaculate were significantly increased and the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm was reduced at the second sampling compared with those at first in the 22 patients examined. Though there were higher prolactin and lower progesterone levels in patients at first sampling than those in controls, no significant alterations were detected for any sex hormones examined over time following COVID-19 recovery in the 22 patients. Although it should be interpreted carefully, these findings indicate an adverse but potentially reversible consequence of COVID-19 on sperm quality.
Aim
To explore the associations of the professional quality of life and social support with health in nurses.
Background
Physical and mental health may be associated with absence from work among ...nurses. Few studies have explored the associations of professional quality of life and social support on the physical and mental health of nurses.
Methods
This was a cross‐sectional study. In total, 294 nurses were recruited from a hospital in Southern Taiwan. A self‐report questionnaire was used to collect data.
Results
Burnout, secondary traumatic stress and social support from relatives or friends were important factors of physical and mental health. Interactions between support from relatives or friends and secondary traumatic stress are important factors in physical health.
Conclusion
Reducing burnout and secondary traumatic stress is important for physical and mental health of nurses. Increasing social support from relatives or friends may be useful to reduce the negative effects of secondary traumatic stress on the physical health of nurses.
Implications for Nursing Management
Nurse managers could design interventions to reduce and prevent nurses from being influenced by burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Educating nurses to build effective social networks with relatives or friends and to seek support when experiencing secondary traumatic stress may also be needed.
Wilms' tumor (WT) is the most common pediatric renal malignancy. PDGFRβ belongs to the type III receptor tyrosine kinase family and is known to be involved in tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Here, ...we studied the effect and underlying mechanism of PDGFRβ on WT G401 cells. Transwell assay and wound‐healing assay were used to detect the effect of PDGFRβ on G401 cells invasion and migration. Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of EMT‐related genes. The expression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway proteins was detected by Western blot. The relationship between PDGFRβ and aerobic glycolysis was studied by assessing the expression of glycolysis‐related enzymes detected by qRT‐PCR and Western blot. The activity of HK, PK, and LDH was detected by corresponding enzyme activity kits. The concentration of lactic acid and glucose was detected by Lactic Acid Assay Kit and Glucose Assay Kit‐glucose oxidase method separately. To investigate the mechanism of PDGFRβ in the development of WT, the changes of glucose and lactic acid were analyzed after blocking PI3K pathway, aerobic glycolysis, or PDGFRβ. The key enzyme was screened by Western blot and glucose metabolism experiment after HK2, PKM2, and PDK1 were inhibited. The results showed that PDGFRβ promoted the EMT process by modulating aerobic glycolysis through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in which PKM2 plays a key role. Therefore, our study of the mechanism of PDGFRβ in G401 cells provides a new target for the treatment of WT.
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•Organic fertilizers had more impacts on phyllosphere ARGs than soil ARGs.•Some bacteria from organic fertilizers could survive in soil but not in phyllosphere.•Shift of microbiome ...was associated with changes in soil ARG patterns.•Relative abundance of phyllosphere ARGs was positively correlated with that of MGEs.
Field application of organic fertilizers may promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in farmland ecosystems, which represents a major threat to public health. However, impacts of multi-year organic fertilization on the spread of soil and phyllosphere ARGs and the possible transmission pathways remain elusive. Here, we investigated the patterns of ARGs and structures of bacterial and fungal communities in soil and wheat crop phyllosphere, under long-term fertilization of swine manure or sewage sludge using high-throughput quantitative PCR and amplicon sequencing. It was found that application of swine manure and sewage sludge had more influence on the prevalence of ARGs in phyllosphere than in soil. SourceTracker analysis revealed that a few bacterial taxa from swine manure and sewage sludge could survive in soil, but hardly in phyllosphere. Mantel test and variation partitioning analysis further revealed that shift in the microbial community compositions was an important factor affecting soil ARGs, while horizontal gene transfer mediated by mobile genetic elements might contribute to the spread of phyllosphere ARGs. Overall, these results demonstrated that long-term application of swine manure and sewage sludge differently impacts the ARGs in soil and phyllosphere, which have implications for sustainable agricultural management.
Exposure of steel to harsh marine environment can cause serious corrosion, which significantly affects its durability. In this study, a novel two-dimensional MXene nanosheets were functionalized with ...3-methacryloxy propyl trimethoxysilane (γ-MPS@MXene) followed by introducing into the vinyl ester resin (VER) through solution blending method to enhance the anti-corrosion properties of the coatings. The effects of γ-MPS@MXene incorporation on the mechanical properties, thermal stability, dynamic thermo-mechanical properties, UV aging resistance, anti-corrosion properties of the VER nanocomposites were systematically investigated. The optimum tensile strength, elastic modulus, hardness, thermal stability and UV aging resistance of γ-MPS@MXene VER nanocomposites can be achieved when composited with 0.08 wt% γ-MPS@MXene. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) results demonstrate the introduction of γ-MPS@MXene nanosheets into the VER enhanced the anti-corrosion properties of the composites coating remarkablely and the anti-corrosion mechanism was also revealed. The favourable interfacial interaction between γ-MPS@MXene and VER matrix through covalent cross-linking diminished interfacial defects of the composite coating and was also beneficial to enhancement of the compatibility, the well-dispersed γ-MPS@MXene in VER created a “labyrinth effect”, which prolonged the diffusion path of corrosive medium to the carbon steel substrate. This research provides a promising strategy for the fabrication of heavy anti-corrosion nanocomposite resin coatings, which can realize long-term corrosion protection of metal substrates.
•A novel anticorrosive VER coatings based on functionalized MXene nanosheets.•Favourable interfacial interaction between MXene and VER promotes the performance enhancement.•Well-dispersed γ-MPS@MXene in VER creates “labyrinth effect".•A promising strategy for fabrication of heavy anti-corrosion nanocomposite resin coatings.
Abstract
Low-temperature standard NH
3
-SCR over copper-exchanged zeolite catalysts occurs on NH
3
-solvated Cu-ion active sites in a quasi-homogeneous manner. As key kinetically relevant reaction ...steps, the reaction intermediate Cu
II
(NH
3
)
4
ion hydrolyzes to Cu
II
(OH)(NH
3
)
3
ion to gain redox activity. The Cu
II
(OH)(NH
3
)
3
ion also transfers between neighboring zeolite cages to form highly reactive reaction intermediates. Via
operando
electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and SCR kinetic measurements and density functional theory calculations, we demonstrate here that such kinetically relevant steps become energetically more difficult with lower support Brønsted acid strength and density. Consequently, Cu/LTA displays lower Cu atomic efficiency than Cu/CHA and Cu/AEI, which can also be rationalized by considering differences in their support topology. By carrying out hydrothermal aging to eliminate support Brønsted acid sites, both Cu
II
(NH
3
)
4
ion hydrolysis and Cu
II
(OH)(NH
3
)
3
ion migration are hindered, leading to a marked decrease in Cu atomic efficiency for all catalysts.
New prognostic factors are needed to establish indications for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in first complete remission (CR1) for T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) patients. We ...used microarray to compare T-LBL tissue samples (n = 75) and fetal thymus tissues (n = 20), and identified 35 differentially expressed miRNAs. Using 107 subjects as the training group, we developed a five-miRNA-based classifier to predict patient survival with LASSO Cox regression: lower risk was associated with better prognosis (disease-free survival (DFS): hazard ratio (HR) 4.548, 95% CI 2.433-8.499, p < 0.001; overall survival (OS): HR 5.030, 95% CI 2.407-10.513, p < 0.001). This classifier displayed good performance in the internal testing set (n = 106) and the independent external set (n = 304). High risk was associated with more favorable response to HSCT (DFS: HR 1.675, 95% CI 1.127-2.488, p = 0.011; OS: HR 1.602, 95% CI 1.055-2.433, p = 0.027). When combined with ECOG-PS and/or NOTCH1/FBXW7 status, this classifier had even better prognostic performance in patients receiving HSCT (DFS: HR 2.088, 95% CI 1.290-3.379, p = 0.003; OS: HR 1.996, 95% CI 1.203-3.311, p = 0.007). The five-miRNA classifier may be a useful prognostic biomarker for T-LBL adults, and could identify subjects who could benefit from HSCT.
Abstract Reactive oxygen species (ROS) function as modulators of pro-inflammatory processes in microglia-associated neurodegenerative diseases. However, little is known about the involvement of ...specific antioxidants in regulating the microglial redox status. Here, we demonstrated that peroxiredoxin (Prx) I activity was induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), but not paraquat and hydrogen peroxide, through activation of the ROS/p38 MAPK signal pathway, and participated in alleviating the microglial activation and generation of nitric oxide (NO). Interestingly, a null mutation of Prx I accelerated NF-κB-mediated iNOS induction and subsequent NO secretion in LPS-stimulated microglia. Furthermore, F4/80 expression as microglial activation marker was notably up-regulated in primary cultures of microglia, hippocampal sections, and cerebral cortex of 15-month-old Prx I−/− mouse. Taken together, the results of our study indicated that Prx I is an antioxidant that is up-regulated in a ROS/p38 MAPK-dependent manner and governs the progression of neuroinflammation by suppressing microglial activation. In addition, Prx I deficiency increased the nuclear translocation of NF-κB mediated-iNOS induction as pro-inflammatory mediators. The findings of our work suggest possible strategies for developing novel therapies to treat inflammation-associated degenerative neurological diseases by targeting the induction of Prx I in microglial cells.
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