Study on the regional risk classification method for the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases based on directed graph theory.

Background: Emerging infectious diseases are a class of diseases that are spreading rapidly and are highly contagious. It seriously affects social stability and poses a significant threat to human health, requiring urgent measures to deal with them. Its outbreak will very easily lead to the large-scale spread of the virus, causing social problems such as work stoppages and traffic control, thereby causing social panic and psychological unrest, affecting human activities and social stability, and even endangering lives. It is essential to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases effectively. Purpose: We aim to propose an effective method to classify the risk level of a new epidemic region by using graph theory and risk classification methods to provide a theoretical reference for the comprehensive evaluation and determination of epidemic prevention and control, as well as risk level classification. Methods: Using the graph theory method, we first define the network structure of social groups and construct the risk transmission network of the new epidemic region. Then, combined with the risk classification method, the classification of high, medium, and low risk levels of the new epidemic region is discussed from two cases with common and looped graph nodes, respectively. Finally, the reasonableness of the classification method is verified by simulation data. Results: The directed weighted scale-free network can better describe the transmission law of an epidemic. Moreover, the proposed method of classifying the risk level of a region by using the correlation function between two regions and the risk value of the regional nodes can effectively evaluate the risk level of different regions in the new epidemic region. The experiments show that the number of medium and high risk nodes shows no increasing trend. The number of high-risk regions is relatively small compared to medium-risk regions, and the number of low-risk regions is the largest. Conclusions: It is necessary to distinguish scientifically between the risk level of the epidemic area and the neighboring regions so that the constructed social network model of the epidemic region's spread risk can better describe the spread of the epidemic risk in the social network relations.

Spin-decoupled excitation and wavefront shaping of structured surface waves via on-chip terahertz metasurfaces.

Surface waves (SWs) are of great importance in terahertz (THz) photonics applications due to their subwavelength properties. Hence, it is crucial to develop surface wavefront shaping techniques, which is urgent in modern information technologies. In this paper, a new scheme is proposed to realize SW excitation and spin-decoupled wavefront shaping with an ultracompact planar meta-device working in the THz range. The meta-device is composed of two parts: meta-atoms (in the center) and plasmonic metals (on the left and right sides). By carefully setting the geometry size and rotation angle of each meta-atom, the encoded spin-decoupled phase distributions for both left circularly polarized (LCP) and right circularly polarized (RCP) incident THz waves are determined. In this way, circularly polarized (CP) incident THz waves can be converted to SWs propagating along plasmonic metals with unique wavefront profiles, i.e., Bessel and focusing profiles. Full-wave simulations and THz near-field scanning experiments were performed to verify the functionalities of the meta-device, both of which are in great agreement with theoretical predictions. Our findings may provide more solutions to design THz integrated photonic devices and systems.

Aberrant expression of GOLM1 protects ALK+ anaplastic large cell lymphoma from apoptosis by enhancing BCL-XL stability.

Golgi membrane protein 1 (GOLM1) is aberrantly expressed in many types of solid tumors and contributes to cancer development; however, its role in hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms remains unknown. Here, we report that GOLM1 was significantly upregulated in anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), particularly in anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) ALCL. Mechanistically, the expression of GOLM1 was induced by nucleophosmin-ALK in both ALK-transformed T cells and ALCL cell lines through AKT/mTOR pathway. Knockdown of GOLM1 expression led to a reduction in the growth and viability of ALCL cells with increased spontaneous apoptosis, whereas ectopic expression of GOLM1 protected ALCL cells from apoptosis induced by staurosporine treatment. Moreover, GOLM1 directly interacted with B-cell lymphoma-extra large protein (a crucial anti-apoptosis regulator) and significantly prolonged its stability. Introduction of GOLM1 promoted ALK+ ALCL cells colony formation in vitro and tumor growth in a murine xenograft model. Taken together, our findings demonstrate, to our knowledge, for the first time that GOLM1 plays a critical role in suppressing apoptosis and promoting the progression of ALK+ ALCL and provide evidence that GOLM1 is a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in ALK-induced hematological malignancies.

D-optimal design of the additive mixture model with multi-response.

This paper proposes the D-optimal design for the additive mixture model with two-response, which is linear model with no interaction terms. The optimality was validated by using the general equivalence theorem, and the corresponding weights are found under which additive model satisfies D-optimality. In addition, relevant statistics and graphics are given to illustrate our results.

Network-based transcriptomic analysis identifies the genetic effect of COVID-19 to chronic kidney disease patients: A bioinformatics approach.

COVID-19 has emerged as global health threats. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are immune-compromised and may have a high risk of infection by the SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to detect common transcriptomic signatures and pathways between COVID-19 and CKD by systems biology analysis. We analyzed transcriptomic data obtained from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) infected with SARS-CoV-2 and PBMC of CKD patients. We identified 49 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which were common between COVID-19 and CKD. The gene ontology and pathways analysis showed the DEGs were associated with "platelet degranulation", "regulation of wound healing", "platelet activation", "focal adhesion", "regulation of actin cytoskeleton" and "PI3K-Akt signalling pathway". The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network encoded by the common DEGs showed ten hub proteins (EPHB2, PRKAR2B, CAV1, ARHGEF12, HSP90B1, ITGA2B, BCL2L1, E2F1, TUBB1, and C3). Besides, we identified significant transcription factors and microRNAs that may regulate the common DEGs. We investigated protein-drug interaction analysis and identified potential drugs namely, aspirin, estradiol, rapamycin, and nebivolol. The identified common gene signature and pathways between COVID-19 and CKD may be therapeutic targets in COVID-19 patients with CKD comorbidity.

Lactate Induces Production of the tRNAHis Half to Promote B-lymphoblastic Cell Proliferation.

High plasma lactate is emerging as a critical regulator in development and progression of many human malignancies. Small RNAs derived from cleavage of mature tRNAs have been implicated in many cellular stresses, but the detailed mechanisms that respond to lactic acid (LA; acidic lactate) are not well defined. Here, using an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-immortalized B lymphoblastic cell line (LCL) as a model, we report that LA induces cleavage of mature tRNA at the anticodon loop, particularly production of three 5'-tRNA halves (5'-HisGUG, 5'-ValAAC, and 5'-GlyGCC), along with increased expression of RNA polymerase III and angiogenin (ANG). Of these, only the 5'-HisGUG half binds to the chromatin regulator argonaute-2 (AGO2) instead of the AGO1 protein for stability. Notably, the levels of ANG and 5'-HisGUG half expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from B cell lymphoma patients are tightly correlated with lactate dehydrogenase (LDH; a lactate indicator) in plasma. Silencing production of the 5'-HisGUG half by small interfering RNA or inhibition of ANG significantly reduces colony formation and growth of LA-induced tumor cells in vitro and in vivo using a murine xenograft model. Overall, our findings identify a novel molecular therapeutic target for the diagnosis and treatment of B cell lymphoma.

Fate of the organophosphorus pesticide profenofos in cotton fiber.

Pesticides carried by cotton fiber are potential risk for production workers and consumers. Dissipation behaviour of a commonly used cotton pesticide profenofos in cotton fiber during growing period and scouring treatment was investigated. The results showed that profenofos in the fiber from the pre-opened and post-opened bolls both decreased to undetectable amounts 21 days after pesticide application. However, a minority of profenofos was converted to a strongly irritant compound, 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol and retained a non-negligible amount in cotton fiber even after 28 days. Profenofos and its degradation product could be completely removed during the conventional cotton scouring process. The degradation half-time of profenofos in scouring bath was only 3.0 min, and the degradation product was also 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol. Cotton products made of profenofos-carrying fiber are safe; however, the scouring waste should be detoxicated before discharge due to the accumulation of 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol in the scouring bath. These results could be useful for evaluating the risk of cotton fiber from the profenofos applied fields.