Revolutionizing Diabetic Foot Ulcer Care: The Senotherapeutic Approach.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a prevalent and profoundly debilitating complication that afflicts individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). These ulcers are associated with substantial morbidity, recurrence rates, disability, and mortality, imposing substantial economic, psychological, and medical burdens. Timely detection and intervention can mitigate the morbidity and disparities linked to DFU. Nevertheless, current therapeutic approaches for DFU continue to grapple with multifaceted limitations. A growing body of evidence emphasizes the crucial role of cellular senescence in the pathogenesis of chronic wounds. Interventions that try to delay cellular senescence, eliminate senescent cells (SnCs), or suppress the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) have shown promise for helping chronic wounds to heal. In this context, targeting cellular senescence emerges as a novel therapeutic strategy for DFU. In this comprehensive review, we look at the pathology and treatment of DFU in a systematic way. We also explain the growing importance of investigating SnCs in DFU and highlight the great potential of senotherapeutics that target SnCs in DFU treatment. The development of efficacious and safe senotherapeutics represents a pioneering therapeutic approach aimed at enhancing the quality of life for individuals affected by DFU.

Targeting type I PRMTs as promising targets for the treatment of pulmonary disorders: Asthma, COPD, lung cancer, PF, and PH.

Pulmonary disorders, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis (PF), pulmonary hypertension (PH), and lung cancer, seriously impair the quality of lives of patients. A deeper understanding of the occurrence and development of the above diseases may inspire new strategies to remedy the scarcity of treatments. Type I protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) can affect processes of inflammation, airway remodeling, fibroblast proliferation, mitochondrial mass, and epithelial dysfunction through substrate methylation and non-enzymatic activity, thus affecting the occurrence and development of asthma, COPD, lung cancer, PF, and PH. As potential therapeutic targets, inhibitors of type I PRMTs are developed, moreover, representative compounds such as GSK3368715 and MS023 have also been used for early research. Here, we collated structures of type I PRMTs inhibitors and compared their activity. Finally, we highlighted the physiological and pathological associations of type I PRMTs with asthma, COPD, lung cancer, PF, and PH. The developing of type I PRMTs modulators will be beneficial for the treatment of these diseases.

Comparing the separation performance of poly(ethyleneimine) embedded butyric and octanoic acid based chromatographic stationary phases.

Poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) modified silica spheres were used to graft butyric acid and octanoic acid onto their surfaces, forming two stationary phases named Sil-PEI-BAD and Sil-PEI-CAD, respectively. Characterized methods including fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis (EA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were utilized to determine the successful synthesis of these two stationary phase materials. The chromatographic performance of these two stationary phases was analyzed with hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds as analytes. Compared with Sil-PEI-CAD column, Sil-PEI-BAD column was more effective in separating hydrophilic compounds including nucleosides, alkaloids and vitamins. Hydrophobic substances including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylbenzenes obtained excellent separation results on Sil-PEI-CAD column than Sil-PEI-BAD column. Additionally, according to the separation of phenols, Sil-PEI-CAD column can be used in HILIC/RPLC mixed-mode. The results showed that the properties and retention mechanisms of the prepared stationary phases depended on the length of the alkyl chains bonded on the silica surface.

Employment of the Phage Cocktail as a Species-Specific Recognition Agent for Wide-Spectrum Detection of Bacterial Strains.

Phages have already been employed to detect bacteria because of their specific recognition capability and strong infectious activity toward their host. However, the reported single-phage-based techniques are inevitably restricted by false negative results that arose from extremely high strain specificity of phages. In this study, a cocktail composed of three Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) phages was prepared as a recognition agent to broaden the recognition spectrum for detecting this bacterial species. A total of 155 clinically isolated strains of K. pneumoniae collected from four hospitals were adopted to test its recognition spectrum. A superior recognition rate of 91.6% for the strains was achieved due to the complementarity of the recognition spectra of the three phages composed of the cocktail. However, the recognition rate is as low as 42.3-62.2% if a single phage is employed. Based on the wide-spectrum recognition capability of the phage cocktail, a fluorescence resonance energy transfer method was established for detecting K. pneumoniae strains by employing fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled to the phage cocktail and Au nanoparticles labeled to p-mercaptophenylboronic acid as energy donors and acceptors, respectively. The detection process can be completed within 35 min, with a wide dynamic range of 5.0 × 102-1.0 × 107 CFU/mL. The application potential was verified by applying it to quantitate K. pneumoniae in different sample matrixes. This pioneer work opens an avenue for achieving wide-spectrum detection of different strains belonging to the same bacterial species with the phage cocktail.

Smartphone-Based Pressure Signal Readout Device Combined with Bidirectional Immunochromatographic Test Strip for Dual-Analyte Detection.

Pressure has been a facile signal readout mode for developing point-of-care testing devices due to the attractive features of portability, accessibility, rapidity, and affordability. Herein, a pressure signal readout device was designed by integrating two homemade needle-type piezoresistive transducers, a controller for a thin-film piezoresistive sensor and a smartphone. Meanwhile, a bidirectional immunochromatographic test strip was designed as an immunoreaction platform for dual-analyte detection. Using PdCuPt nanoparticles with catalase-mimic activity as signal tags, the pressure signals triggered by catalyzed aerogenous reaction were monitored by the pressure signal readout device and read on a smartphone with the Bluetooth module. In this proof-of-principle work, imidacloprid and carbendazim were detected as model analytes. The dynamic ranges for quantitating imidacloprid and carbendazim are 20 pg mL-1 to 50 ng mL-1 and 50 pg mL-1 to 50 ng mL-1, respectively. The whole immunoassay process was completed within 16 min. The recovery values for imidacloprid and carbendazim spiked into herbal medicines are 82.0-110.0 and 84.0-116.0%, respectively, verifying its reliability for real sample detection. As the smartphone APP and controller for a thin-film piezoresistive sensor contain 12 signal channels, the system can be easily extended to meet the demand for high-throughput screening.

Development of a Highly Efficient Shoot Organogenesis System for an Ornamental Aeschynanthus pulcher (Blume) G. Don Using Leaves as Explants.

Aeschynanthus pulcher (Blume) G. Don, the "lipstick plant" is a prized ornamental plant with distinctive flowers. Here, we introduce a novel in vitro regeneration method for A. pulcher using leaf explants and an optimized combination of phytohormone plant growth regulators (PGRs). The optimal conditions for shoot regeneration included 1 mg L-1 polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) plus 3 mg L-1 thidiazuron (TDZ), inducing a response rate of 82.4% and a shoot/explant ratio of 38.6. When the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium contained indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) alone, leaves first differentiated into adventitious roots and then adventitious shoots. Leaves cultured on MS medium containing 1 g L-1 PVP, 3 mg L-1 TDZ, 5 mg L-1 casein, and 0.1 mg L-1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) for 30 d exhibited the highest embryogenic callus (EC) induction rate (95.6%). The optimal shoot proliferation coefficient (21.5) was obtained when shoots derived from EC were cultured on the same medium as that used for EC induction for 5 weeks. The most effective medium for rooting of elongated shoots was MS medium containing 1 g L-1 PVP, 5 mg L-1 casein, 3 mg L-1 6-benzyladenine (BA), and 0.1 mg L-1 NAA, and the number of roots reached 18.8. The regenerated plants grown in a greenhouse had 100% survival following one week of hardening. Overall, our effective and efficient propagation method should result in shortened culture periods and reduced production costs, allowing for the future selective breeding and genetic improvement of A. pulcher.

Engineering Phage Tail Fiber Protein as a Wide-Spectrum Probe for Acinetobacter baumannii Strains with a Recognition Rate of 100.

As a multidrug-resistant pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii has long been identified as one of the most common nosocomial bacteria. High-performance recognition probes for wide-spectrum detection of A. baumannii are highly desired to achieve efficient diagnosis and timely treatment of infectious diseases induced by this pathogen. An engineering tail fiber protein (ETFP) named as Gp50 encoded by lytic phage Abp9 was expressed in Escherichia coli and identified as a binding protein for A. baumannii. According to the results of genome sequencing of an A. baumannii wild strain and phage-resistant strains, the binding receptor of ETFP Gp50 is inferred to be a lipopolysaccharide distributed on the bacterial surface. The engineering protein did not show lytic activity to A. baumannii, which facilitates the development of reliable diagnosis kits and biosensors with high flexibility and low false-negative rate. The results of specificity study show that ETFP Gp50 is a species-specific binding protein with a recognition rate of 100% for all tested 77 A. baumannii strains, while that of the natural phage Abp9 is only 27.3%. With the engineering protein, a fluorescence method was developed to detect A. baumannii with a detection range of 2.0 × 102 to 2.0 × 108 cfu mL-1. The method has been used for the quantification of A. baumannii in a diverse sample matrix with acceptable reliability. The work demonstrates the application potential of ETFP Gp50 as an ideal recognition probe for rapid screening of A. baumannii strains in a complicated sample matrix.

First Report of Leaf Spot Disease Caused by Alternaria brassicae on Cercidiphyllum japonicum in China.

Cercidiphyllum japonicum is a deciduous tree belonging to the genus Cercidiphyllum of the family Cercidiphyllaceae (Li et al., 2008). Fossil records indicated that this tree was once distributed throughout the Northern hemisphere during the tertiary period, whereas it is now only found in Japan and China as a consequence of quaternary glaciation. In 1989, C. japonicum was listed as a Rare and Endangered plant in China (Song et al., 1989). It is also highly valued for use in ornamental, medicinal, and research contexts, leading to its widespread planting and cultivation throughout China. In September 2021, a severe leaf spot infection (FigS1.A) was first detected on C. japonicum trees in Meigu County, Sichuan Province, China (N 28°33', E 103°14'). In a survey of twenty 100-year-old C. japonicum trees in this region, the incidence of such leaf spot was found to be approximately 95%. During the early stages of disease, infected leaves exhibited small punctate spots along the leaf center or margins. These spots were brown in the center with black edges. As the disease progressed, these spots expanded until they coalesced to yield large circular or irregularly shaped regions of necrotic tissue, and finally produced mildew. Samples of leaf tissue between symptomatic and healthy regions (5 mm×5 mm) were excised from five symptomatic leaves, surface disinfected for 30 s with 75% ethanol, soaked for 2 min in 3% NaClO, rinsed then plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium supplemented with ampicillin and carbenicillin (50 µg/ml each). After cultured for 3 days in the dark at 25°C, emergent hyphae were purified by subculturing them on fresh PDA medium. In total, single spore culturing was performed by collecting and purifying seven fungal isolates. These isolates exhibited largely comparable morphological characteristics. Aerial hyphae had a cotton-like appearance and were white to pale gray in color (FigS1.B), turning pale reddish-brown with profuse sporulation (FigS1.C). Conidia were present in long chains, with conidiophores being present in clusters or in isolation (FigS1.D), with 1-5 transverse septa, 0-3 oblique and longitudinal septa and an ellipsoidal to obpyriform structure, measuring 9.0-38.6 µm in length and 5.1-12.6 µm in width (n = 40) (FigS1.E). These seven isolates thus exhibited morphological characteristics consistent with those of members of the Alternaria genus (Simmons, 2008). Molecular identification of a representative isolate (LGB9) was performed by amplifying the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), and partial RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB2) gene sequences with the ITS1/ITS4 (White et al.,1990), GDF/GDR (Templeton et al., 1992), TEF-728F/TEF-986R (Carbone & Kohn 1999) and RPB2-5F2/RPB2-7cR (Sung et al., 1990; Liu et al., 1999), and Bt-2a/Bt-2b (Glass and Donaldson 1995) primer pairs, respectively. The resultant sequences were deposited in GenBank (ITS, OL659190; GAPDH, OL685343; TEF, ON340848; RPB2, OL685344). Further phylogenetic analyses of isolate LGB9 revealed it to cluster in the A. brassicae clade with 97% bootstrap support. To confirm the pathogenicity of isolate LGB9, 15 healthy leaves from five one-year-old C. japonicum plants were spray-inoculated with a suspension containing 3×105 LGB9 conidia/mL, with control leaves instead being sprayed with distilled water. After 8 days, inoculated leaves exhibited symptoms similar to those observed on naturally infected leaves (FigS1.F-I), whereas the mock leaves were free of any symptoms. This is the first report to our knowledge of a case of leaf spot disease caused by A. brassicae affecting C. japonicum in China or anywhere else in the world. To ensure the protection of this living fossil species, appropriate interventional measures should be adopted to manage the development and spread of this disease.

Adventitious Shoot Regeneration from Leaf Explants in Sinningia Hybrida 'Isa's Murmur'.

As a valuable ornamental plant, Sinningia hybrida 'Isa's Murmur' (S. hybrida) has genetic flower diversity, which has great potential to develop different flower characters in the horticultural market. The present study focuses on establishing a practical approach for the sustainable propagation of S. hybrida. Compared with aseptic seeding leaves explants, field-grown leaves explants are more suitable for adventitious shoot regeneration. Adding 0.1 mg L-1 NAA and 2.0 mg L-1 TDZ could obtain the highest adventitious shoot proliferation coefficient (24.5), and the induction rate was 91.7%. The shoot proliferation coefficient (20.7) and the greatest shoot length and induction rate (95.3%) were achieved in 0.1 mg L-1 NAA and 2.0 mg L-1 BA medium, accompanied by rooting formation. Adding 0.5 mg L-1 GA3, 1.0 mg L-1 BA, and 0.2 mg L-1 IBA to MS medium can effectively prolong the regenerated buds for rooting. The best for rooting was 1/2 MS medium containing 0.3 mg L-1 IBA, with the maximum number of roots (13.4 per shoot) and survival rate for transplanting (100%). This work aims to build an efficient, definitive, and scalable protocol for S. hybrida regeneration useful for large-scale cultivation and even more protoplast fusion and genetic transformation to develop more colorful or fragrant flowers.

Green fluorescent protein-fused bacteriophage cellular wall-binding domain as broad-spectrum signal probe for fluorimetry of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains.

As a "superbug", methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has long been one of the most ubiquitous drug-resistant bacteria inducing numerous nosocomial infections. To achieve effective diagnosis and following treatment decision of infectious diseases induced by MRSA, it is highly desired to establish rapid analysis and antibiotic susceptibility test methods for this pathogen. In this study, we successfully expressed a bifunctional protein by fusing green fluorescent protein and cellular wall-binding domain of bacteriophage P108. The bifunctional protein can be employed as a signal probe for broad-spectrum fluorimetry of MRSA strains because it can both bind with the target pathogen and emit intensive fluorescence. By using it as the signal probe and porcine IgG as the capture agent, MRSA can be analyzed within a dynamic range of 1.0 × 103-2.0 × 107 CFU mL-1 with a sandwich mode. The fluorimetry was also applied to test antibiotic susceptibility of this pathogen to five antibiotics, and all results are conformable with those obtained with a standard micro broth dilution method. The above results demonstrate the attractive perspective of the bifunctional protein for rapid diagnosis and effective medication of infectious diseases induced by MRSA.

Preparation and evaluation of a double-hydrophilic interaction stationary phase based on bovine serum albumin and graphene quantum dots modified silica.

The bovine serum albumin (BSA) was firstly bonded on the surface of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) functionalized silica as the stationary phase named as BSA@GQDs@SiO2 which can perform hydrophilic interaction between the stationary phase and analytes. Characteristic methods including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis (EA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were applied to estimate the chemical bonding results and morphological features of the prepared materials. In the chromatographic evaluation part, the BSA@GQDs@SiO2 column showed excellent separation efficiency for the analysis of hydrophilic compounds involving nucleosides and bases, acids, phenols, quinolones, vitamins and alkaloids, which proved the prepared column can exhibit hydrophilic interaction mode with other interactions including hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction. What's more, essential experimental approaches were designed to evaluate the retention properties of the prepared column via comparing with a commercial amino column and a prepared GQDs@SiO2 column. Results indicated the prepared column showed excellent separation ability for different kinds of hydrophilic compounds than commercial and single hydrophilic columns. The study showed that BSA@GQDs@SiO2 stationary phase with double hydrophilic materials will be a potential chromatographic material for analyzing various hydrophilic analytes.

COVID-19 lockdowns and air quality: Evidence from grey spatiotemporal forecasts.

This paper proposes a novel grey spatiotemporal model and quantitatively analyzes the spillover and momentum effects of the COVID-19 lockdown policy on the concentration of PM2.5 (particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5 µm) in Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown from 23 January to 8 April 2020 inclusive, and the post-pandemic period from 9 April 2020 to 17 October 2020 inclusive. The results suggest that the stringent lockdowns lead to a reduction in PM2.5 emissions arising from a momentum effect (9.57-18.67%) and a spillover effect (7.07-27.60%).

One-pot method for the synthesis of ß-cyclodextrin and covalent organic framework functionalized chiral stationary phase with mixed-mode retention mechanism.

As a welcomed porous material, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have many advantages and are widely used in various aspects. Particularly, COFs have aroused great attentions of scientists in chromatographic separation field due to their outstanding advantages, such as high stability, large specific surface area and multiple voids. However, endowing COFs with chirality to construct chiral stationary phase (CSP) function is still facing many challenges. Here, we firstly prepared a ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) and covalent organic framework functional silica CSP named as COF@CD@SiO2 by one-pot method to perform high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chiral separation. The morphology and structure of the synthesized stationary phase were investigated by a variety of characterization methods including Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption experiment, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and elemental analysis (EA). The prepared stationary phase realized fast separation of six enantiomers in a short time. The separation mechanism was mainly ascribed to the inclusion complexation of ß-cyclodextrin and the mutli-interaction sites from COFs material. In conclusion, the prepared chiral column can be used to achieve fast separation of enantiomers with good stability and reproducibility. These results can open new avenue for using chiral COFs in liquid chromatographic separation.

A Novel and Efficient In Vitro Organogenesis Approach for Ajuga lupulina Maxim.

This work was aimed at establishing an effective approach for in vitro propagation of Ajuga lupulina Maxim, a medicinal and ornamental plant mainly found in eastern Xizang, in the western Sichuan region of China. We report an optimum response in the proliferation of axillary shoots from nodal segment explants (10.2 shoots/explant) on MS medium containing 3.0 mg L-1 of 6-benzyladenine (BA). When BA and TDZ individually or in combination with NAA were employed for adventitious shoot regeneration, shoots and embryo-like structures (ELSs) were noted in the callus from leaf explants. The maximum response of 26.4 shoots /explant (81.6%) and 12.0 ELSs/explant were ascertained on MS medium with 4.0 mg L-1 TDZ and 0.1 mg L-1 NAA. The leaf despite browning still demonstrated a high regeneration capacity. TDZ (2.0 mg L-1) and BA (2.0 mg L-1) along with NAA (0.01 mg L-1) were found to perform well for shoot regeneration via callus from shoot tip explants. The best for rooting was MS medium (half-strength) containing indole-3-butyric acid (IBA: 1.5 mg L-1) and (NAA: 0.5 mg L-1) with the maximum number of roots (25.8 per shoot) and the highest rooting frequency (81.71%). The survival of the plantlets in the greenhouse was 78.2% indicative of successful acclimatization. This work is the first report of a consistent, definitive, and unique protocol for A. lupulina regeneration, paving the way for the in vitro preservation of such significant genetic resources and also further allied systems based on such callus-based or embryo-based approaches.

Lateral flow assay of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using bacteriophage cellular wall-binding domain as recognition agent.

As one of the most common and noticeable superbugs, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has long been a major threat to public health. To meet the demand for effective diagnosis of MRSA-induced infection, it is urgent to establish rapid assay method for this type of pathogen. In this study, an aqueous soluble cellular wall-binding domain (CWBD) protein from bacteriophage P108 was obtained with a recombinant expression technique. It can act as a wide-spectrum binding agent for all MRSA strains and exclude the interference from methicillin-susceptible strains of Staphylococcus aureus and other species of bacteria. To establish a lateral flow assay (LFA) method for MRSA, CWBD-coupled time-resolved fluorescent microspheres (FMs) were used as signal probes for tracing MRSA, and a nitrocellulose membrane immobilized with porcine IgG was used to capture MRSA. With the LFA based on sandwich format, MRSA can be assayed within 10 min with a broad linear range of 6.6 × 102-6.6 × 107 CFU/mL. Its application potential has been demonstrated by assaying different types of bacteria-contaminated real samples. The results suggest that the LFA strip using recombinant CWBD as the recognition agent provides a rapid, portable, cost-effective approach for point-of-care testing of MRSA.

Predictive value of small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol for cardiovascular events in Chinese elder diabetes mellitus patients.

BACKGROUND: As a subcomponent of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), small dense LDL-C (sdLDL-C) has been suggested to be a better predictor of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The aim of this research was to evaluate the predictive value of the sdLDL-C in cardiovascular events (CVs) in Chinese elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: A total of 386 consecutive type 2 DM patients were included into this study during December 2014 to December 2016. The serum sdLDL-C level of each subject was measured by homogeneous method. During a period of 48-month's follow-up, the occurrence of CVs and associated clinical information were recorded. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the predictive value of serum sdLDL-C to occurrence of major CVs. RESULTS: A total of 92 CVs occurred during the study period. The ROC curve analysis manifested that sdLDL-C in the study population had a matchable discriminatory power (AUC for sdLDL-C was 0.7366, P = 0.003). In addition, Kaplan-Meier event-free survival curves displayed an obvious increase of CVs risk for sdLDL-C ≧ 26 mg/dL (log-rank = 9.10, P = 0.003). This phenomenon had analogous results in patients who received statins at baseline (log rank = 7.336, P = 0.007). Cox regression analysis revealed that the increase in HbA1c, glucose, LDL-C, sdLDL-C, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and the decrease in apolipoprotein AI (ApoAI) were obviously interrelated with heightened CVs risk. Multiple Cox regression demonstrated that the increase of sdLDL-C and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was significantly correlated with CVs. The results of the study indicated that high sdLDL-C level (> 10 mg/dL) was a risk factor for CVs in the multivariate model (HR 1.281, 95% CI 1.225-16.032; P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: sdLDL-C level could be an effective predictor in predicting the future CVs for Chinese elderly patients with type 2 DM and dyslipidemia.

Epidemic situation and control measures of African Swine Fever Outbreaks in China 2018-2020.

As of 21 April 2020, 176 ASF outbreaks have occurred in China. For each outbreak, an investigation was conducted, including historical data retrieval and traceability of potential contacts. The purpose of this study is to conduct a preliminary analysis of the data obtained from the outbreak investigations, including an investigation of the possible contributing factors of the spread of ASF in China. Based on the epidemic situation and the policies issued, the entire epidemic can be divided into three phases. 71 outbreaks were reported between 3 August 2018 and 17 November 2018; 44 outbreaks between 19 November 2018 and 30 March 2019; and 61 outbreaks between 4 April 2019 and 12 April 2020. Based on the reported outbreaks, the proportional rate of outbreaks in small farms (livestock ≤ 500, 127/168) is significantly higher than that of medium (501 ≤ livestock < 2,000, 14/168; 2001 ≤ livestock ≤ 5,000, 9/168) and large farms (livestock ≥ 5,001, 18/168). The odds of infection related to swill feeding (OR = 2.5, 95% CI, 1.5-4.3) and the mechanical dissemination of vehicles and personnel (OR = 2.7, 95% CI, 1.6-4.5) are significantly higher than those of pigs and pig production transportation. Swill feeding is the major contributing factor for small farms while mechanical dissemination of vehicles and personnel is the major contributing factor for large farms. The average duration from the beginning of the infection to the official outbreak report is gradually decreasing, which means that response speed of industry entities and the animal husbandry and veterinary departments from the beginning of the infection to the outbreak report is gradually increasing. Based on the analysis for ASF outbreaks, some policies and suggestions were put forward, such as improving the biosecurity level of the farms, as well as strengthening the supervision of breeding, transportation and slaughter.

A Strategy Study on Risk Communication of Pandemic Influenza: A Mental Model Study of College Students in Beijing.

PURPOSE: To understand the characteristics of risk perception of influenza pandemic in college students with prominent frequency and the differences between these risk perceptions and professionals. Then, offering a proposal for the government to improve the efficiency of risk communication and health education. METHODS: According to the mental model theory, researchers first draw a framework of key risk factors, and then they ask these students about the understanding of the framework with questionnaire and then making concept statistics and content analysis on the respondents' answers. RESULTS: Researchers find some students' misunderstanding of pandemic including excessive optimism to the consequences of a pandemic, a lack of detailed understanding of mitigation measures, and negative attitudes towards health education and vaccination. Most students showed incomplete and incorrect views about concepts related to the development and exposure factors, impact and mitigation measures. Once threatened, it may lead to the failure of decision-making. The majority of students we interviewed had positive attitudes towards personal emergency preparedness for a pandemic influenza and specialized health education in the future. CONCLUSION: Researchers suggest that the government should make a specific pandemic guidance plan by referring to the risk cognitive characteristics of college students shown in the research results, and update the methods of health education to college students.

African Swine Fever in a commercial pig farm: Outbreak investigation and an approach for identifying the source of infection.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a contagious disease of domestic and wild pigs caused by the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). The disease has spread globally in recent years with serious economic consequences to pork production. This report describes an ASF outbreak that occurred in a large-scale Chinese commercial pig farm. The outbreak started in 2018 and presents the spatial and temporal spread of infection in an intensive pig farm. Pig houses adjacent to exit rooms had a higher risk of infection (Odds ratio = 14.4, 95%CI: 1.5-140). Introduction of disease is presumed to have occurred through a contaminated vehicle used in the sale of pigs with poor productivity. This investigation shows the process of ASFV infection and spread in a facility with presumed adequate biosecurity measures. These findings may benefit others in the control of ASF in large-scale pig farms.

Effect of tea root-derived proanthocyanidin fractions on protection of dentin collagen.

OBJECTIVES: Proanthocyanidins (PAs) have been widely used as effective agents for dentin collagen cross-linking to enhance the biomechanics and biostability of dentin in vitro. However, the effects and protective mechanisms of various tea root-derived PA components on dentin remain undefined. This study evaluated the effects of these tea root-derived PA components on dentin biomechanics and biostability. METHODS: In this study, ethyl acetate and n-butyl alcohol were used to extract PAs with different degrees of polymerization from tea roots; the effects of these PA extracts on dentin were evaluated. RESULTS: Dentin was treated with glutaraldehyde, ethyl acetate, n-butyl alcohol, or water. PAs with a high degree of polymerization, extracted using n-butyl alcohol, were able to more effectively improve dentin collagen cross-linking, increase resistance to bacterial collagenase digestion, and enhance dentin elasticity, relative to treatment with glutaraldehyde or PAs with a low degree of polymerization (extracted using ethyl acetate). Additionally, treatment with aqueous extract of tea roots was detrimental to dentin stability and function. CONCLUSIONS: PAs with a high degree of polymerization were effective for dentin protection and restoration in vitro, suggesting clinical treatment potential for tea root-derived PAs.