Facilities for Centralized Isolation and Quarantine for the Observation and Treatment of Patients with COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic increased the burden on many healthcare systems and in the process, exposed the need for medical resources and physical space. While few studies discussed the efficient utilization of medical resources and physical space so far. Therefore, this study aimed to summarize experiences related to facilities used for centralized isolation for medical observation and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to provide suggestions to further improve the management of confirmed cases, suspected cases, and close contacts. In China, three types of facilities for centralized isolation (Fangcang shelter hospitals, refitted non-designated hospitals, and quarantine hotels) underwent retrofitting for the treatment and isolation of confirmed and suspected cases. These facilities mitigated the immediate high demand for space. Moreover, in order to minimize infection risks in these facilities, regulators and governmental agencies implemented new designs, management measures, and precautionary measures to minimize infection risk. Other countries and regions could refer to China's experience in optimally allocating social resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a conclusion, government should allocate social resources and construct centralized isolation and quarantine facilities for an emergency response, health authorities should issue regulations for centralized isolation facilities and pay strict attention to the daily management of these facilities, a multidisciplinary administration team is required to support the daily operation of a centralized isolation facility, in-depth studies and international collaboration on the centralized isolation policy are encouraged.

Healthy Environment Promotion Campaign in Healthy China Initiative.

On July 15, 2019, the State Council of China issued new guidelines for the implementation of the country's Healthy China Initiative (2019-2030) and for the promotion of population health across the nation. This article interprets Healthy Environment Promotion Campaign (HEPC) in the Healthy China Initiative from four main aspects-background, major indices, strategies, and features. Two outcome indices and four advocacy indices are proposed by the HEPC, and the strategies are mainly embodied at three levels: individual/family, society and government. The strategies have the following features: 1) the strategies are developed on the basis of scientific evidence; 2) the strategies advocate that citizens must be responsible for their own health; 3) the administrative impetus provided by the Chinese government to integrate health into all policies is an important driver for developing and implementing the HEPC; and 4) HEPC is not an isolated campaign, so it is necessary to coordinate all 15 campaigns in order to proactively and properly implement HEPC.

Prevention and control of COVID-19 in nursing homes, orphanages, and prisons.

As the number of Coronavirus Disease (2019) (COVID-19) cases increase globally, countries are taking more aggressive preventive measures against this pandemic. Transmission routes of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) include droplet and contact transmissions. There are also evidence of transmission through aerosol generating procedures (AGP) in specific circumstances and settings. Institutionalized populations without mobility and living in close proximity with unavoidable contact are especially vulnerable to higher risks of COVID-19 infection, such as the elderly in nursing homes, children in orphanages, and inmates in prisons. In these places, higher prevention and control measures are needed. In this study, we proposed prevention and control strategies for these facilities and provided practical guidance for general measures, health management, personal protection measures, and prevention measures in nursing homes, orphanages, and prisons, respectively.

Prevention and control of COVID-19 in public transportation: Experience from China.

Due to continuous spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide, long-term effective prevention and control measures should be adopted for public transport facilities, as they are increasing in popularity and serve as the principal modes for travel of many people. The human infection risk could be extremely high due to length of exposure time window, transmission routes and structural characteristics during travel or work. This can result in the rapid spread of the infection. Based on the transmission characteristics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the nature of public transport sites, we identified comprehensive countermeasures toward the prevention and control of COVID-19, including the strengthening of personnel management, personal protection, environmental cleaning and disinfection, and health education. Multi-pronged strategies can enhance safety of public transportation. The prevention and control of the disease during the use of public transportation will be particularly important when all countries in the world resume production. The aim of this study is to introduce experience of the prevention and control measures for public transportation in China to promote the global response to COVID-19.

Shape-dependent toxicity of alumina nanoparticles in rat astrocytes.

Nanosized alumina (Al2O3-NPs), a widely used nanoparticle in numerous commercial applications, is released into environment posing a threat to the health of wildlife and humans. Recent research has revealed essential roles of physicochemical properties of nanoparticles in determining their toxicity potencies. However, influence of shape on neurotoxicity induced by heterogeneous Al2O3-NPs remains unknown. We herein compared the neurotoxicity of two shapes of γ-Al2O3-NPs (flake versus rod) and their effects on metabolic profiles of astrocytes in rat cerebral cortex. While exposed to both shapes caused significant cytotoxicity and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner after 72 h exposure, a significantly stronger response was observed for nanorods than for nanoflakes. These effects were associated with significantly greater ROS accumulation and inflammation induction, as indicated by increased concentrations of IL-1ß, IL-2 and IL-6. Using untargeted metabolomics, significant alternations in metabolism of amino acids, lipids and purines, and pyrimidines were observed after exposure to both types. Moreover, changes in the metabolome caused by nanorods were significantly greater than those by nanoflakes as also indicated by physiological stress responses to ROS, inflammation, and apoptosis. Taken together, these findings demonstrated the critical role of morphology in determining toxic potencies of nano-alumina and its underlying mechanisms of toxic actions.

An improvement of LLNA:DA to assess the skin sensitization potential of chemicals.

We developed a modified local lymph node assay based on ATP (LLNA:DA), termed the Two-Stage LLNA:DA, to further reduce the animal numbers in the identification of sensitizers. In the Two-Stage LLNA:DA procedure, 13 chemicals ranging from non-sensitizers to extreme sensitizers were selected. The first stage used reduced LLNA:DA (rLLNA:DA) to screen out sensitive chemicals. The second stage used LLNA:DA based on OECD 442 (A) to classify those potential sensitizers screened out in the first stage. In the first stage, the SIs of the methyl methacrylate, salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, ethyl salicylate, isopropanol and propanediol were below 1.8 and need not to be tested in the second step. Others continued to be tested by LLNA:DA. In the second stage, sodium lauryl sulphate and xylene were classified as weak sensitizers. a-hexyl cinnamic aldehyde and eugenol were moderate sensitizers. Benzalkonium chloride and glyoxal were strong sensitizers, and phthalic anhydride was an extreme sensitizer. The 9/9, 11/12, 10/11, and 8/13 (positive or negative only) categories of the Two-Stage LLNA:DA were consistent with those from the other methods (LLNA, LLNA:DA, GPMT/BT and HMT/HPTA), suggesting that Two-Stage LLNA:DA have a high coincidence rate with reported data. In conclusion, The Two-Stage LLNA:DA is in line with the "3R" rules, and can be a modification of LLNA:DA but needs more study.

[Establishment of an in vitro culture model of single human hair follicle].

OBJECTIVE: To establish an in vitro culture model of single human hair follicle, and observe their morphological and histological changes. METHODS: Human hair follicles were isolated from the volunteer patients. After dissecting follicles into single, follicles in growth phase were cultured in Williams E without any serum. This experiment included 3 groups: single follicle without sebaceous gland and other surrounding tissue (control group); single follicle with sebaceous gland and without the other surrounding tissue( experiment group A); single follicles with sebaceous gland and the other surrounding tissue (experiment group B). The survival rate, survival time, growth rate, multiplication capacity and apoptosis of cultured follicles and their morphological and histological changes were observed sequentially. RESULTS: The hair follicles in experiment groups showed a better viability and a higher growth rate than those in control group. And the follicles in group B could keep growing for more than 25 days, which was longer than those in group A. Moreover, the sebaceous gland and the other surrounding tissue in group B showed great induction effect on follicle-cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis. CONCLUSION: The in vitro culture model of signal human hair follicles (single follicles including epidermis, sebaceous gland and the other surrounding tissue) had optimized internal environment which is similar to in vivo internal environment.

Connexin 43 mediates PFOS-induced apoptosis in astrocytes.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a man-made environmental pollutant that is toxic to mammals. However, the neurotoxic effects of PFOS remain largely unexplored. In this study, we determined the role of an astrocyte specific gap junction protein, connexin 43 (Cx43), in PFOS-induced apoptosis. The rate of astrocyte apoptosis was higher in cortex astrocytes after PFOS treatment. These astrocytes also showed up-regulated expression of Cx43 and higher levels of cleaved caspase-3. Elevated ROS accumulation and decreased ΔΨm also confirmed the presence of PFOS-induced apoptosis. However, the exposure of astrocytes to PFOS together with carbenoxolone (CBX) significantly reduced both Cx43 and cleaved caspase-3 levels. These results indicate that Cx43 plays a proapoptotic role in PFOS-induced apoptosis in cortex astrocyte cells.