Deletion of BACH1 alleviates ferroptosis and protects against LPS-triggered acute lung injury by activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Multiple lines of evidences have unraveled the emerging role of ferroptosis in the pathophysiological process of acute lung injury (ALI). In this study, we aimed to decipher the role of BACH1 in the onset and progression of ALI with a focus on ferroptosis and elucidated potential molecular mechanism. We observed that BACH1 expression was drastically elevated in BEAS-2B cells upon exposure to LPS. In the functional aspect, BACH1 deletion exerted an anti-inflammatory property, featured by decreased the secretion of several cytokines including TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6 in the face of LPS challenge. What's more important, BACH1 knockout evidently repressed LPS-triggered oxidative stress damage, as evidenced by reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and malondialdehyde (MDA) generation, accompanied with the elevated the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), GSH-Px and CAT. Meanwhile, ablation of BACH1 restrained LPS-elicited ferroptosis, as characterized by decreased iron content and PTGS2 expression, accompanied with increased expression of SLC7A11 and GPX4. In terms of mechanism, Nrf2/HO-1 signaling inhibitor effectively abrogated the beneficial effects of BACH1 inhibition on LPS-stimulated inflammation, oxidative damage and ferroptosis. Taken together, these preceding outcomes strongly illuminated that BACH1 was a novel regulator of LPS-evoked injury through regulation of inflammation response, oxidative stress and ferroptosis via activation Nrf2/HO-1 signaling, indicating that BACH1 may represent as a promising novel therapeutic candidate for ALI treatment.

Clinical Value of Platelets and Coagulation Parameters in Predicting the Severity of Delta Variant SARS-CoV-2.

INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed to analyze the clinical features and laboratory markers of patients with Delta variant SARS-CoV-2 and explore the role of platelet in predicting the severity of Delta. METHODS: This retrospective, observational study was conducted on 863 patients laboratory-confirmed Delta variant SARS-CoV-2. These cases were sub-classified based on disease severity into mild (n = 304), moderate (n = 537), and severe (n = 22). A series of laboratory findings and clinical data were collected and analyzed during hospitalization. RESULTS: Of 863 hospitalized patients with Delta, the median age was 38 years (interquartile range, 30-51 years) and 471 (54.58%) were male. The most common clinical symptoms mainly included cough, fever, pharyngalgia, expectoration, dyspnea, fatigue, and headache, and the commonest comorbidities were hypertension and diabetes. Among the hematological variables, neutrophil count, red blood cell count, and hemoglobin, were found to be statistically significant with regard to subcategories based of disease severity (p < 0.05). Among coagulation parameters, there was a statistically significant difference in D-dimer, fibrinogen, international normalized ratio, and prothrombin time (p < 0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed in platelet markers including platelet count, large platelet count, and plateletcrit (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was strong correlation between platelet and other parameters with disease severity. Logistical regression analysis and ROC curves showed that D-dimer was a single best marker of disease severity (p = 0.005, p < 0.0001); however, platelet (p = 0.009, p = 0.002) and plateletcrit (p = 0.002, p = 0.001) could also predict severe disease. Platelet was identified as an independent risk factor for severe Delta. CONCLUSION: Low platelet may be a marker of disease severity in Delta variant SARS-CoV-2 and may contribute to determine the severity of patients infected with Delta.

Robust PDF Watermarking against Print-Scan Attack.

Portable document format (PDF) files are widely used in file transmission, exchange, and circulation because of their platform independence, small size, good browsing quality, and the ability to place hyperlinks. However, their security issues are also more thorny. It is common to distribute printed PDF files to different groups and individuals after printing. However, most PDF watermarking algorithms currently cannot resist print-scan attacks, making it difficult to apply them in leak tracing of both paper and scanned versions of PDF documents. To tackle this issue, we propose an invisible digital watermarking technology based on modifying the edge pixels of text strokes to hide information in PDFs, which achieves high robustness to print-scan attacks. Moreover, it cannot be detected by human perception systems. This method focuses on the representation of text by embedding watermarks by changing the features of the text to ensure that changes in these features can be reflected in the scanned PDF after printing. We first segment each text line into two sub-blocks, then select the row of pixels with the most black pixels, and flip the edge pixels closest to this row. This method requires the participation of original PDF documents in detection. The experimental results show that all peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) values of our proposed method exceed 32 dB, which indicates satisfactory invisibility. Meanwhile, this method can extract the hidden information with 100% accuracy under the JPEG compression attack, and has high robustness against noise attacks and print-scan attacks. In the case of no attacks, the watermark can be recovered without any loss. In terms of practical applications, our method can be applied in the practical leak tracing of official paper documents after distribution.

LncRNA UCA1 remits LPS-engendered inflammatory damage through deactivation of miR-499b-5p/TLR4 axis.

Neonatal pneumonia is a high neonatal mortality disease. The current research was designed to elucidate the modulatory function and feasible molecular mechanism of UCA1 in LPS-induced injury in pneumonia. Herein, LPS was applied to induce WI-38 cell inflammatory damage. We displayed that UCA1 was elevated in LPS-injured WI-38 cells. In the functional aspect, intervention of UCA1 evidently aggrandized cell viability in LPS-triggered WI-38 cells. In the meanwhile, elimination of UCA1 distinctly assuaged cell apoptosis concomitant with declined levels of proapoptotic proteins Bax and C-caspase-3, and ascended the expression of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2. Subsequently, disruption of UCA1 manifestly restrained inflammatory damage as characterized by declination of multiple pro-inflammatory factors IL-1ß, IL-6, and TNF-α in WI-38 cells under LPS circumstance. More importantly, we predicted and verified that UCA1 functioned as a ceRNA by efficaciously binding to miR-499b-5p thereby inversely adjusting miR-499b-5p expression. Interesting, TLR4 was identified as direct target of miR-499b-5p, and positively regulated by UCA1 through sponging miR-499b-5p. Mechanistically, absence of miR-499b-5p or restoration of TLR4 impeded the beneficial effects of UCA1 ablation on LPS-stimulated apoptosis and inflammatory response. Collectively, these observations illuminated that UCA1 inhibition protected WI-38 cells against LPS-managed inflammatory injury and apoptosis process via miR-499b-5p/TLR4 crosstalk, which ultimately influencing the development of pneumonia.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Biliary Ischemia: A Possible New Clinical Indication.

OBJECTIVES: Biliary perfusion is considered to contribute to biliary diseases, but routine imaging methods are insufficient to show it. This research investigated the ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for biliary perfusion in a biliary ischemia model. METHODS: This research consisted of 2 parts. First, to determine whether CEUS enhancement of the tiny biliary wall represents biliary perfusion, a vascular tracer was used as a reference to evaluate the consistency with the enhancement of the biliary wall on CEUS and the staining by the vascular tracer under the conditions of occluded and recovered biliary perfusion. In the second part, the ability of CEUS for biliary ischemia was further evaluated with microvascular density measurement as a reference. The enhancement patterns were assigned CEUS scores, in which higher scores meant more decreased enhancement, and the diagnostic ability of CEUS was assessed by a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: The biliary wall was unstained by the vascular tracer and nonenhanced on CEUS when biliary perfusion was interrupted and was stained blue and enhanced after recovery. The biliary wall in the ischemia surgery group showed lower microvascular density measurements (P < .001), decreased enhancement levels (P < .001), and higher CEUS scores (P < .001). When a CEUS score of 3 or higher (obvious decrease of the biliary wall to hypoenhancement or nonenhancement in the arterial phase or rapid wash-out to nonenhancement in the portal venous phase) was applied, CEUS had sensitivity of 87.8%, specificity of 98.3%, accuracy of 93.8%, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.98. CONCLUSIONS: Contrast enhancement of the biliary wall on CEUS represents biliary perfusion and has reasonably good diagnostic performance for biliary ischemia in an experimental animal setting.

Automated detection and quantification of COVID-19 pneumonia: CT imaging analysis by a deep learning-based software.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging worldwide threat to public health. While chest computed tomography (CT) plays an indispensable role in its diagnosis, the quantification and localization of lesions cannot be accurately assessed manually. We employed deep learning-based software to aid in detection, localization and quantification of COVID-19 pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 2460 RT-PCR tested SARS-CoV-2-positive patients (1250 men and 1210 women; mean age, 57.7 ± 14.0 years (age range, 11-93 years) were retrospectively identified from Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan from February 11 to March 16, 2020. Basic clinical characteristics were reviewed. The uAI Intelligent Assistant Analysis System was used to assess the CT scans. RESULTS: CT scans of 2215 patients (90%) showed multiple lesions of which 36 (1%) and 50 patients (2%) had left and right lung infections, respectively (> 50% of each affected lung's volume), while 27 (1%) had total lung infection (> 50% of the total volume of both lungs). Overall, 298 (12%), 778 (32%) and 1300 (53%) patients exhibited pure ground glass opacities (GGOs), GGOs with sub-solid lesions and GGOs with both sub-solid and solid lesions, respectively. Moreover, 2305 (94%) and 71 (3%) patients presented primarily with GGOs and sub-solid lesions, respectively. Elderly patients (≥ 60 years) were more likely to exhibit sub-solid lesions. The generalized linear mixed model showed that the dorsal segment of the right lower lobe was the favoured site of COVID-19 pneumonia. CONCLUSION: Chest CT combined with analysis by the uAI Intelligent Assistant Analysis System can accurately evaluate pneumonia in COVID-19 patients.

A Nursing Pain Assessment and Record Information System: Design and Application in the Oncology Department.

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional feeling accompanying existing, impending, or potential tissue damage. Valid pain assessment and standardized pain documentation are important in oncology pain management; however, they are still deficient. Thus, we developed a pain assessment and record information system for nurses in the oncology department and implemented a questionnaire survey to evaluate users' acceptance of the system. The pain assessment system focused on usability and efficiency to provide a modified workflow that was safe, less time-consuming, patient centered, enjoyable, and efficient. The pain assessment and record chart types in the system enabled greater standardization of pain assessments and records. The application of the system greatly improved the efficiency of nursing in the oncology department, guiding nurses in an accurate and comprehensive patient pain assessment and contributing significantly to further improvement in pain care standards and care decisions. Nurses and doctors surveyed reported a high degree of satisfaction with factors such as saving time and improving the capacity of pain control, suggesting that the system enhanced the quality of pain management. Through this system, we can promote pain management, improving care quality for patients.

Relative and absolute stereochemistry of diacarperoxides: antimalarial norditerpene endoperoxides from marine sponge Diacarnus megaspinorhabdosa.

Five new norditerpene endoperoxides, named diacarperoxides H-L (1-5), and a new norditerpene diol, called diacardiol B (6), were isolated from the South China Sea sponge, Diacarnus megaspinorhabdosa. Their structures, including conformations and absolute configurations, were determined by using spectroscopic analyses, computational approaches and chemical degradation. Diacarperoxides H-J (1-3) showed some interesting stereochemical issues, as well as antimalarial activity.

Anti-inflammatory secondary metabolites from the leaves of Rosa laevigata.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of a n-BuOH-soluble extract of the leaves of Rosa laevigata led to the isolation of three new 19-oxo-18,19-seco-ur-sane-type triterpenoids, laevigins A-C (1-3), a new oleanane-type triterpenoid saponin, laevigin D (4), a new geranylmethylbenzoate, 5-[(2″E,6″S)-6″,7″-dihydroxy-3″,7″-dimethyl-2″-octen-1″-yl]-2-(ß-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-methyl benzoate (5), together with 9 known compounds (6-14). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Compounds 4, 9, 11, and 12 significantly suppressed the LPS-stimulated NF-κB transcriptional activity and the release of TNFα, IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-10 in mouse RAW 264.7 macrophages. The compound 12 exhibited moderate inhibition on NF-κB transcriptional activity with an IC50 value of 23.21 µM. The IC50 values of compound 12 were measured as 14.32, 8.53, 8.04, and 10.38 µM for the inhibitory activity on TNFα-release, IL-1ß-release, IL-6-release, and IL-10-release, respectively.

Changes in levels of T cell subpopulations to monitor the response to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-1-infected patients during two years of HIV-1 replication suppression.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of 2 y of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the percentage of activated CD38⁺CD8⁺ T cells and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR⁺CD8⁺ T cells, and the expression of the co-stimulatory molecule CD28 on CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in the peripheral blood of HIV-infected adults, and to assess the use of immune activation markers to predict the virological response to ART in a cohort of HIV-1-infected patients in the north-western part of China. METHODS: We analyzed changes in the CD4⁺ T cell count, viral load, and the percentages of CD38⁺CD8⁺ T cells, HLA-DR⁺CD8⁺ T cells, CD28⁺CD4⁺ T cells, and CD28⁺CD8⁺ T cells in 48 patients with HIV diseases during 2 y of suppressive highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Good virological responders (n = 20) were defined as those who had suppressed and maintained a plasma viral load below the detection limit of the assay for at least 12 months. Poor virological responders (n = 28) were defined as those with a detectable viral load at 6 and 12 months after beginning HAART. RESULTS: Among the 20 good responders, baseline median levels of CD38⁺CD8⁺ T cells were elevated, but had decreased significantly at 24 months of therapy (p < 0.0001). Median levels of HLA-DR⁺CD8⁺ T cells also decreased at 24 months of therapy (p < 0.0001). Levels of expression of CD28⁺CD4⁺ T cells rose steadily to 6 months (p = 0.03), and smoothly reached levels observed among HIV-negative blood donors during the 24 months of therapy (p > 0.05). Levels of expression of CD28⁺CD8⁺ T cells increased at 24 months (p = 0.04). Among the 28 poor responders, median levels of CD38⁺CD8⁺ T cells decreased significantly at 24 months (p < 0.0001). Levels of HLA-DR⁺CD8⁺ T cells also decreased at 24 months (p < 0.001). Levels of CD28⁺CD8⁺ T cells and levels of CD28⁺CD4⁺ T cells increased at 24 months remained unchanged. The percentage of CD38⁺CD8⁺ T cells appeared to provide a sensitive estimate of the overall immune recovery in comparison with the percentage of HLA-DR⁺CD8⁺ T cells, although this lacked specificity for the determination of early virological drug failure and did not appear to be a reliable surrogate for RNA viral load. CONCLUSIONS: We show that HAART can be used successfully in Chinese populations with elevated baseline immune activation markers and that the percentage of CD38⁺CD8⁺ T cells may be an additional parameter to the current criteria for estimating the antiretroviral response with HAART.

Therapeutic effect of minimally invasive decompression combined with impaction bone grafting on osteonecrosis of the femoral head.

The aim of this study was to observe the therapeutic effect of minimally invasive decompression combined with impaction bone grafting on osteonecrosis of the femoral head. A total of 67 patients underwent minimally invasive lightbulb decompression combined with impaction bone grafting. The therapeutic effect was evaluated according to Harris scores, and fluoroscopic and magnetic resolution imaging results at different time points. The Harris score was significantly increased after operation. The fineness rate was 85.4%. Postoperative disease progression was found in nine patients with the progression rate of 14.63%. The average necrotic area percentage was noticeably reduced 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after operation. The one-year postoperative percentage showed a significant difference compared with the preoperative one. Minimally invasive lightbulb decompression combined with impaction bone grafting can achieve a satisfactory curative effect on ONFH. This method has the advantages of small trauma, thorough decompression, and good bone implantation.

[Oral health behavior and parental cognition of first-grade children in urban and suburban areas of Shanghai].

PURPOSE: To investigate oral health behaviors of first-grade school children and parents' cognition of oral health in urban and suburban areas of Shanghai, and to analyze and compare the differences between the two areas, so as to provide reference for formulating oral health intervention measures and oral health education. METHODS: A total of 3 312 first-grade school-aged children in Shanghai were included by cluster random sampling method. Relevant data were collected through questionnaire survey of parents' oral health and clinical oral examination of children. Chi-square test was used to compare the differences in oral health behaviors of children and parents' oral health cognition between urban and suburban area with SAS 9.4 software package. RESULTS: The proportion of children who brush their teeth more than twice a day in urban and suburban areas was 72.55% and 44.26%, and the proportion of children who brushed their teeth with fluoride toothpaste was 53.25% and 44.79%, respectively. Compared with the suburban area, the brushing habits of school-aged children in urban area were better, the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05). In terms of medical habits, the proportion of children with no dental experience in urban and suburban areas was 26.99% and 44.08%, and the proportion of children with toothache in the past year was lower than that in the last dental visit, the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05). In terms of parents' cognition and attitude towards oral health knowledge, parents in urban areas were more correct than those in suburban areas, with the average correct rate being 82.56% and 70.42%, and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There are regional differences in oral health behaviors of first-grade school children and parents' oral health knowledge between urban and suburban area in Shanghai. It is suggested that relevant government departments should strengthen oral health education and oral health behavior guidance for parents, and strengthen oral health investment in non-central urban areas.

The Psychosomatic Traits of "People with the Five Elements in Traditional Chinese Medicine": A Qualitative Study.

Objective: To identify the representative attributes of the five elements of a person with a qualitative methodology and provide the basis for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of "people with the five elements in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)." Methods: Data collected from the literature review, two sessions of brainstorming of experts with related experience in "people with the five elements in TCM" from October 2020 to December 2020, and six rounds of in-depth interviews with 30 participants who had various attributes of the five elements from March 2021 to October 2021 were analyzed. Triangulation was used in this study, and theming and synthesizing were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 31 experts and 30 interviewees participated in this study. The median age of the experts and interviewees were 48.0 and 38.5 years, respectively; 51.66% and 54.8% of experts and interviewees, respectively, were men. The descriptors of facial diagrams of "people with the five elements in TCM" were complexion, shape, distribution state of facial bones, convergence trend of facial muscles, and facial expression. A theoretical model of "people with the five elements in TCM" was shaped based on these findings. Conclusion: The study suggests a possibility for bridging the gap between personality and bodily state, identifying an avenue for personality research from the perspective of TCM.

Simplexolides A-E and plakorfuran A, six butyrate derived polyketides from the marine sponge Plakortis simplex.

Six new polyketides, simplexolides A-E (1-5) and a furan ester, plakorfuran A (6), together with four known furanylidenic methyl esters (7-10) were isolated from the marine sponge Plakortis simplex. Compounds 1-5 feature a tetrahydrofuran ring opened seco-plakortone skeleton. These new structures, including relative configurations, were determined on the basis of extensive analysis of spectroscopic data. The absolute configurations of 1-6 were established by the modified Mosher's method, and the CD exciton chirality method. However, configurations of the remote stereocenters at C-8 in compounds 1-5 were not determined. Antifungal, cytotoxicity, antileismanial, and antimalarial activities of these poly-ketides were evaluated.

[The role of Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 in hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the expression level of Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 (SMURF1) gene in hepatocellular carcinoma, and to explore its role in liver cancer. METHODS: With non-neoplastic adjacent normal tissues as controls, real-time PCR and Western blotting were used for measuring the expression of SMURF1 mRNA and protein in 89 samples of hepatocellular carcinoma. Correlations between SMURF1 expression and clinical features were explored. Following transfection of SMURF1--specific small interference RNA(siRNA), the apoptosis and proliferation of hepatic cancer cells Hep G2 were detected using flow cytometry and MTT assays . RESULTS: The expression of SMURF1 mRNA and protein were significantly higher in hepatocellular cancer tissues compared with the paired normal tissues (P< 0.05). The expression of SMURF1 however did not correlate with any clinical features (P> 0.05). Transfection of SMURF1-specific siRNA can promote the apoptosis whilst inhibit the proliferation of Hep G2 cells. CONCLUSION: The expression of SMURF1 is enhanced in hepatocellular carcinoma, which may have played a role in the disease through affecting apoptosis and proliferation of hepatic cancer cells.

[Epidemiological studies on close contacts of smear-positive tuberculosis patients in Shijiazhuang city from 2007 to 2008].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in people who were in close contact with smear-positive TB patients. METHODS: A total of 19 159 subjects, including 17 334 family members and 1825 classmates of patients, in close contact with 6653 smear-positive TB patients in Shijiazhuang city from 2007 to 2008 were observed. All the classmates were tested by purified protein derivative (PPD) test and symptom screening, and all family members were screened by symptoms. All these subjects were trained with knowledge related to TB. The ones with positive PPD test and suspected TB symptoms were further examined by chest X-ray and sputum smear microscopy, and those without any symptom were followed up monthly throughout a two year period and were examined at any time if symptoms occurred. RESULTS: A total of 281 patients with pulmonary TB were diagnosed in 2 years, including 176 family members and 105 classmates in all close contacts. The smear-positive incidences were 1466.67/100 000. The incidences for 14 - 25 years old group and more than 75 years old group were 2907.18/100 000 (83/2855) and 2650.96/100 000 (18/679), which were higher than those for other groups. Two higher incidences were related to close contact time periods of 6 months (929.07/100 000, 178/19 159) and 13 - 18 months (369.12/100 000, 70/18 964). Three highest incidences were observed in the roommates (11 384.62/100 000, 37/325), classmates (4533.33/100 000, 68/1500) and couples (1624.17/100 000, 86/5295). CONCLUSION: Closer contact with smear-positive patients with TB may result in the higher chance of TB. Close contact for 6 months or 13 to 18 months caused more patients, and the 14 - 25 years old group and more than 75 years old group had higher incidences of TB.

Hippolides A-H, acyclic manoalide derivatives from the marine sponge Hippospongia lachne.

Eight new acyclic manoalide-related sesterterpenes, hippolides A-H (1-8), together with two known manoalide derivatives, (6E)-neomanoalide (9) and (6Z)-neomanoalide (10), were isolated from the South China Sea sponge Hippospongia lachne. The absolute configurations of 1-8 were established by the modified Mosher's method and CD data. Compound 1 exhibited cytotoxicity against A549, HeLa, and HCT-116 cell lines with IC50 values of 5.22×10(-2), 4.80×10(-2), and 9.78 µM, respectively. Compound 1 also showed moderate PTP1B inhibitory activitiy with an IC50 value of 23.81 µM, and compound 2 showed moderate cytotoxicity against the HCT-116 cell line and PTP1B inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 35.13 and 39.67 µM, respectively. In addition, compounds 1 and 5 showed weak anti-inflammatory activity, with IC50 values of 61.97 and 40.35 µM for PKCγ and PKCα, respectively.

Single-Molecule Real-Time and Illumina Sequencing to Analyze Transcriptional Regulation of Flavonoid Synthesis in Blueberry.

Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) contain large amounts of flavonoids, which play important roles in the plant's ability to resist stress and can also have beneficial effects on human health when the fruits are eaten. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate flavonoid synthesis in blueberries are still unclear. In this study, we combined two different transcriptome sequencing platforms, single-molecule real-time (SMRT) and Illumina sequencing, to elucidate the flavonoid synthetic pathways in blueberries. We analyzed transcript quantity, length, and the number of annotated genes. We mined genes associated with flavonoid synthesis (such as anthocyanins, flavonols, and proanthocyanidins) and employed fluorescence quantitative PCR to analyze the expression of these genes and their correlation with flavonoid synthesis. We discovered one R2R3 MYB transcription factor from the sequencing library, VcMYB1, that can positively regulate anthocyanin synthesis in blueberries. VcMYB1 is mainly expressed in colored (mature) fruits. Experiments showed that overexpression and transient expression of VcMYB1 promoted anthocyanin synthesis in Arabidopsis, tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) plants and green blueberry fruits. Yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) assay, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and transient expression experiments showed that VcMYB1 binds to the MYB binding site on the promoter of the structural gene for anthocyanin synthesis, VcMYB1 to positively regulate the transcription of VcDFR, thereby promoting anthocyanin synthesis. We also performed an in-depth investigation of transcriptional regulation of anthocyanin synthesis. This study provides background information and data for studying the synthetic pathways of flavonoids and other secondary metabolites in blueberries.

Lymphocyte blood levels that remain low can predict the death of patients with COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been rapidly spreading on a global scale and poses a great threat to human health. However, efficient indicators for disease severity have not been fully investigated. Here, we aim to investigate whether dynamic changes of lymphocyte counts can predict the deterioration of patients with COVID-19.We collected data from 2923 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Patients were then screened, and we focused on 145 severe cases and 60 critical cases (29 recovered cases, 31 deaths). The length of hospitalization was divided into five time points, namely admission, 25%, 50%, 75% and discharge or death, according to the principle of interquartile distance. A series of laboratory findings and clinical data were collected and analyzed during hospitalization. The results showed that there were differences in levels of leukocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes at almost every time point in the severe cases and 60 critical cases (29 recovered cases, 31 deaths). Further analysis showed that 70.2% of the COVID-19 cases had low circulating lymphocyte count, of which 64.1% were severe cases and 85.0% were critical cases (75.9% recovered cases and 93.5% died). Moreover, the lymphocyte count in dead cases was significantly lower than that of critical cases who recovered, at almost every time point in the critical groups. We also divided critical patients into group A (<1.1 × 109/L) and group B (>1.1 × 109/L) according to number of lymphocytes. Through survival analysis, we found that there was no significant difference in survival between group A and group B at admission (P = .3065). However, the survival rate according to lymphocyte levels in group A was significantly lower than that of group B at 25% hospital stay (on average day 6.5), 50% and 75% time points (P < .001).Lymphocyte counts that remain lower after the first week following symptom onset are highly predictive of in-hospital death of adults with COVID-19. This predictor may help clinicians identify patients with a poor prognosis and may be useful for guiding clinical decision-making at an early stage.