Xiyanping (XYP) is a Chinese herbal medicine used in the clinic to treat respiratory infection and pneumonia. Recent evidence identified XYP as a potential inhibitor of severe acute respiratory ...syndrome coronavirus 2, implying XYP as a possible treatment for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Here, we conducted a prospective, multicenter, open‐label and randomized controlled trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of XYP injection in patients with mild to moderate COVID‐19. We consecutively recruited 130 COVID‐19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms from five study sites, and randomized them in 1:1 ratio to receive XYP injection in combination with standard therapy or receive standard supportive therapy alone. We found that XYP injection significantly reduced the time to cough relief, fever resolution and virus clearance. Less patients receiving XYP injection experienced disease progression to the severe stage during the treatment process. No severe adverse events were reported during the study. Taken together, XYP injection is safe and effective in improving the recovery of patients with mild to moderate COVID‐19. However, further studies are warranted to evaluate the efficacy of XYP in an expanded cohort comprising COVID‐19 patients at different disease stages.
Abstract
Distinct X-ray plateau and flare phases have been observed in the afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and most of them should be related to central engine activities. In this paper, we ...collect 174 GRBs with X-ray plateau phases and 106 GRBs with X-ray flares. There are 51 GRBs that overlap in the two selected samples. We analyze the distributions of the proportions of the plateau energy
E
plateau
and the flare energy
E
flare
relative to the isotropic prompt emission energy
E
γ
,iso
. The results indicate that they well meet the Gaussian distributions and the medians of the logarithmic ratios are ∼−0.96 and −1.39 in the two cases. Moreover, strong positive correlations between
E
plateau
(or
E
flare
) and
E
γ
,iso
with slopes of ∼0.95 (or ∼0.80) are presented. For the overlapping sample, the slope is ∼0.80. We argue that most of X-ray plateaus and flares might have the same physical origin but appear with different features because of the different circumstances and radiation mechanisms. We also test the applicabilities of two models, i.e., black holes surrounded by fractured hyperaccretion disks and millisecond magnetars, on the origins of X-ray plateaus and flares.
Background
In glioblastoma (GBM), promoter methylation of the DNA repair gene O‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is associated with beneficial chemotherapy.
Purpose/Hypothesis
To analyze ...radiomics features for utilizing the full potential of medical imaging as biomarkers of MGMT promoter methylation.
Study Type
Retrospective.
Population/Subjects
In all, 98 GBM patients with known MGMT (48 methylated and 50 unmethylated tumors).
Field Strength/Sequence
3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) images, containing T1‐weighted image (T1WI), T2‐weighted image (T2WI), and enhanced T1WI.
Assessment
A region of interest (ROI) of the tumor was delineated. A total of 1665 radiomics features were extracted and quantized, and were reduced using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regularization.
Statistical Testing
After the support vector machine construction, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were computed for different sequences. An independent validation cohort containing 20 GBM patients was utilized to further evaluate the radiomics model performance.
Results
Radiomics features of T1WI reached an accuracy of 67.54%. Enhanced T1WI features reached an accuracy of 82.01%, while T2WI reached an accuracy of 69.25%. The best classification system for predicting MGMT promoter methylation status originated from the combination of 36 T1WI, T2WI, and enhanced T1WI images features, with an accuracy of 86.59%. Further validation on the independent cohort of 20 patients produced similar results, with an accuracy of 80%.
Data Conclusion
Our results provide further evidence that radiomics MR features could predict MGMT methylation status in preoperative GBM. Multiple imaging modalities together can yield putative noninvasive biomarkers for the identification of MGMT.
Level of Evidence: 4
Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;47:1380–1387.
Objective
The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship of periodontal disease with depression and anxiety via a systematic review and meta‐analysis.
Method
We systematically searched ...the EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and SinoMed databases (until August 4, 2019) with language restricted to English and Chinese. Case–control, cross‐sectional, and cohort studies that calculated the risk ratio (RR), odds ratio (OR)/prevalence OR (POR), and hazard ratio (HR) of depression/anxiety with periodontal disease or the OR/POR/RR/HR of periodontal disease caused by depression/anxiety were included. Observational studies that reported the depression/anxiety scale score of patients with periodontal disease and healthy periodontal subjects aged ≥14 years were also included.
We used the standard format to extract the following information from each included study: author/s, survey year, study design, age of participants, periodontal disease definition, depression/anxiety measurement, and summary of results. The Newcastle–Ottawa scale was used to ascertain the quality of the included citations.
Results
After screening, 40 studies were included. A meta‐analysis of the case–control studies showed that periodontal disease was positively associated with depression (OR = 1.70, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.01–2.83). A meta‐analysis of 12 studies showed that periodontal disease was significantly correlated with anxiety (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.11–1.66). A meta‐analysis of 18 studies showed that subjects with periodontal disease had higher depression scale score (standardized mean difference SMD = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.68–1.41) and anxiety scale score (SMD = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.44–0.96).
Conclusion
Periodontal disease is associated with emotional disorders. However, the high degree of heterogeneity among studies should be considered. More high‐quality prospective studies are required to confirm the relationship.
Axially chiral biaryls widely exist in natural products and pharmaceuticals and are used as chiral ligands and catalysts in asymmetric synthesis. Compared to the well‐established axially chiral ...6‐membered biaryl skeletons, examples of 5‐membered biaryls have been quite scarce, and mono‐substituted 3‐arylpyrrole atropisomers have not been reported. Here, we disclose a copper‐catalyzed atroposelective diyne cyclization for the construction of a range of axially chiral arylpyrrole biaryls in good to excellent yields with generally excellent enantioselectivities via oxidation and X−H insertion of vinyl cations. Importantly, this protocol not only represents the first synthesis of mono‐substituted 3‐arylpyrrole atropisomers, but also constitutes the first example of atroposelective diyne cyclization and the first atropisomer construction via vinyl cations. Theoretical calculations further support the mechanism of vinyl cation‐involved cyclization and elucidate the origin of enantioselectivity.
A novel copper‐catalyzed atroposelective diyne cyclization enables the efficient synthesis of a range of axially chiral arylpyrrole biaryls in good to excellent yields with generally excellent enantioselectivities via oxidation and X−H insertion of vinyl cations. This method gives the first synthesis of mono‐substituted 3‐arylpyrrole atropisomers and the first atroposelective diyne cyclization.
China has the highest higher education enrollment across the world since 2005. Beijing has China’s greatest concentration of higher education universities and institutes, and therefore has the ...greatest potential and necessity for conducting waste source separation on university campuses. This study conducted a face-to-face intercept survey on 10 university campuses in Beijing, to gather first-hand information on students’ waste source separation behavior and its influential factors. The survey received a total of 509 valid respondents. Results showed that 47% of the college students mixed all the MSWs at source, which is very similar to their surrounding friends (43%) but much higher than their parents (27%). Nearly 90% of the respondents can make a correct separation of food waste, but the accuracy rate for waste drugs (76%), waste textiles (73%), waste batteries (69%), and waste electrics (54%) is much lower. Special attention needs to be given to distinguishing recyclables and hazardous wastes. For the testing of five influential factor hypotheses, HP1, HP3, and HP4 can be accepted, and HP2 and HP5 can be partly accepted. Students that are more likely to actively participate in waste source separation are: female; have more awareness of waste damage consequences and are willing to make more practical efforts; have more knowledge on proper waste classification; have surrounding friends that do waste source separation; and have better perceptions of the convenience of waste separation systems and the university’s waste management processes. Five measures are also recommended for improving students’ behavior based on this investigation.
•A face-to-face intercept survey on 10 university campuses in Beijing was conducted.•47% of the students mixed the MSWs at source, which is similar to their friends (43%) but higher than their parents (27%).•Five influential factor hypotheses are tested.•Characteristics of students that are more likely to participate in MSW source separation are identified.•Five measures for improving students’ waste separation behavior are recommended.
Atmospheric methane growth reached an exceptionally high rate of 15.1 ± 0.4 parts per billion per year in 2020 despite a probable decrease in anthropogenic methane emissions during COVID-19 lockdowns
.... Here we quantify changes in methane sources and in its atmospheric sink in 2020 compared with 2019. We find that, globally, total anthropogenic emissions decreased by 1.2 ± 0.1 teragrams of methane per year (Tg CH
yr
), fire emissions decreased by 6.5 ± 0.1 Tg CH
yr
and wetland emissions increased by 6.0 ± 2.3 Tg CH
yr
. Tropospheric OH concentration decreased by 1.6 ± 0.2 per cent relative to 2019, mainly as a result of lower anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NO
) emissions and associated lower free tropospheric ozone during pandemic lockdowns
. From atmospheric inversions, we also infer that global net emissions increased by 6.9 ± 2.1 Tg CH
yr
in 2020 relative to 2019, and global methane removal from reaction with OH decreased by 7.5 ± 0.8 Tg CH
yr
. Therefore, we attribute the methane growth rate anomaly in 2020 relative to 2019 to lower OH sink (53 ± 10 per cent) and higher natural emissions (47 ± 16 per cent), mostly from wetlands. In line with previous findings
, our results imply that wetland methane emissions are sensitive to a warmer and wetter climate and could act as a positive feedback mechanism in the future. Our study also suggests that nitrogen oxide emission trends need to be taken into account when implementing the global anthropogenic methane emissions reduction pledge
.
Multimodal neuroimaging features provide opportunities for accurate classification and personalized treatment options in the psychiatric domain. This study aimed to investigate whether brain features ...predict responses to the overall treatment of schizophrenia at the end of the first or a single hospitalization. Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from two independent samples (N = 85 and 63, separately) of schizophrenia patients at baseline were included. After treatment, patients were classified as responders and non‐responders. Radiomics features of gray matter morphology and functional connectivity were extracted using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator. Support vector machine was used to explore the predictive performance. Prediction models were based on structural features (cortical thickness, surface area, gray matter regional volume, mean curvature, metric distortion, and sulcal depth), functional features (functional connectivity), and combined features. There were 12 features after dimensionality reduction. The structural features involved the right precuneus, cuneus, and inferior parietal lobule. The functional features predominately included inter‐hemispheric connectivity. We observed a prediction accuracy of 80.38% (sensitivity: 87.28%; specificity 82.47%) for the model using functional features, and 69.68% (sensitivity: 83.96%; specificity: 72.41%) for the one using structural features. Our model combining both structural and functional features achieved a higher accuracy of 85.03%, with 92.04% responder and 80.23% non‐responders to the overall treatment to be correctly predicted. These results highlight the power of structural and functional MRI‐derived radiomics features to predict early response to treatment in schizophrenia. Prediction models of the very early treatment response in schizophrenia could augment effective therapeutic strategies.
By radiomics strategy, we established prediction models based on structural features and functional features extracted from multi‐modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of 148 schizophrenia patients collected from two independent samples. The model combining both structural and functional features achieved a prediction accuracy of 85.03% to the overall treatment response. Our results highlight the capability of structural and functional MRI‐derived radiomics features to predict early responses to the treatment in schizophrenia.
Performance of triboelectric nanogenerators is limited by low and unstable charge density on tribo-layers. An external-charge pumping method was recently developed and presents a promising and ...efficient strategy towards high-output triboelectric nanogenerators. However, integratibility and charge accumulation efficiency of the system is rather low. Inspired by the historical development of electromagnetic generators, here, we propose and realize a self-charge excitation triboelectric nanogenerator system towards high and stable output in analogy to the principle of traditional magnetic excitation generators. By rational design of the voltage-multiplying circuits, the completed external and self-charge excitation modes with stable and tailorable output over 1.25 mC m
in contact-separation mode have been realized in ambient condition. The realization of the charge excitation system in this work may provide a promising strategy for achieving high-output triboelectric nanogenerators towards practical applications.
The essential oil (EO) from leaves of
Mentha piperita
was extracted by hydrodistillation. Twenty-one chemical components, accounting for 97.5% of the total oil, were determined by GC-MS and GC-FID. ...The major chemical components included menthol (41.6%), L-menthone (24.7%), isomenthol (6.3%), and limonene (5.0%). The bioactivity of the obtained EO and its two major components against
Tribolium castaneum
,
Lasioderma serricorne
, and
Liposcelis bostrychophila
adults were evaluated by fumigation, contact, and repellent activity bioassay. The EO showed significant fumigation and contact toxicity against
T. castaneum
(LC
50
= 18.1 mg/L air and LD
50
= 2.9 μg/adult, respectively),
L. serricorne
(LC
50
= 68.4 mg/L air and LD
50
= 12.6 μg/adult, respectively), and
L. bostrychophila
(LC
50
= 0.6 mg/L air and LD
50
= 49.8 μg/adult, respectively) adults. Meanwhile, the repellent effect of the EO on
T. castaneum
and
L. serricorne
adults was comparable to that of the positive control at the highest tested concentration. Menthol and L-menthone were two major components in total oil. Among them, L-menthone exhibited significant insecticidal activity on target insects, and menthol showed notable repellent effects. The results indicated that the EO of
M. piperita
leaves and two tested components have potential to be developed as natural insecticides and repellents for the control of stored product insect pests.
Graphical abstract
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