Analysis of the Influencing Factors of Seeking Intention on COVID-19 Risk Information: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Information seeking, as an important part of the prevention and control of infectious diseases, can lead to positive outcomes by reducing uncertainty and alleviating panic. However, most previous studies have limited their analysis to individual-level psychosocial factors, and little is known about how social-level factors influence individuals' information-seeking intentions. Methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 30, 2020 to August 15, 2020 in China. We used a convenience sampling strategy to recruit participants from among the Internet users. The structural equation model was used to identify the incentives associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk information-seeking intention. Results: In this study, the responses of 871 Internet users who reflected a response rate of 85% were analyzed. Information-seeking intention was found to be directed by informational subjective norms (ISNs), perceived information need, risk knowledge, the sense of community (SOC), and negative affective responses, and ISNs were found to be the strongest driving factor. Individuals with a stronger SOC, which was associated with greater pressure and expectations, show negative affective responses. COVID-19 risk knowledge can affect the information-seeking intention of Internet users not only directly but also indirectly through their perceived information need. In addition, more risk knowledge was associated with a lower perceived risk likelihood. Conclusion: When formulating risk communication strategies, governments and health institutions should take targeted measures to improve the public's SOC and knowledge. This will provide an opportunity to explore the role of individual cognition and environmental risk information in public health.

Correlation of Moraxella catarrhalis macrolide susceptibility with the ability to adhere and invade human respiratory epithelial cells.

Recently, the prevalence of macrolide-resistant Moraxella catarrhalis has been reported, especially among Chinese children. The fitness cost of resistance is reported to render the resistant bacteria less virulent. To investigate the correlation between macrolide susceptibility of M. catarrhalis and pathogenicity, the whole genome of 70 M. catarrhalis isolates belonging to four clonal complexes with different macrolide susceptibilities was sequenced. The gene products were annotated with the Gene Ontology terms. Based on 46 extracted essential virulence genes, 19 representative isolates were selected to infect type II alveolar cells (A549 cells). The ability of these isolates to adhere and invade human epithelial cells and to produce cytokines was comparatively analysed. Furthermore, mice were infected with a pair of M. catarrhalis isolates with different pathogenic behaviours and macrolide susceptibilities to examine pulmonary clearance, histological findings, and the production of cytokines. The percentages of annotations for binding, metabolic process, cellular process, and cell were non-significantly different between the macrolide-resistant and macrolide-susceptible groups. The presence of uspA2, uspA2H, pilO, lbpB, lex1, modM, mboIA, and mboIB significantly differed among the four clonal complexes and macrolide susceptibility groups. Furthermore, compared with those in macrolide-susceptible isolates, the adhesion ability was stronger (P = 0.0019) and the invasion ability was weaker (P < 0.0001) in the macrolide-resistant isolates. Mouse experiments revealed that pulmonary macrophages elicit immune responses against M. catarrhalis infection by significantly upregulating the Csf2, Il4, Il13, Il1b, Il6, Tnf, and Il18. Therefore, M. catarrhalis populations exhibited diverse pathogenicity in vitro and in vivo.

[Effects of 40 Hz multisensory stimulation on trauma-induced anxiety-like behavior in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of 40 Hz acousto-optical stimulation on anxiety like symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with emphasis on the possible molecular mechanism stimulation. METHODS: Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: Control group, PTSD group and PTSD+40 Hz group,ten rats in each group. The SPS&S model was established in the rats of the PTSD group and PTSD+40 Hz group and, then PTSD+40 Hz group rats were stimulated with 40 Hz acousto-optical stimulation for 7 days. The behavior of anxiety was tested by elevated plus maze (EPM) and open field test (OFT). The expressions of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB), synapsinⅠand postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95) in the rat prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus (HIP) were detected by Western blot. The mRNA transcription level of BDNF genes in the PFC and HIP was verified by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-PCR) and the distribution of BDNF in the PFC and HIP was determined by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: Compared with the Control group, in the OFT the total distance and the time spending in the center, and in the EPM the total distance were decreased significantly (P＜0.05), the number of entering into the open arm as a percentage of the total number of entering in two arms was decreased,and the expression levels of BDNF, TrkB, PSD95, Synapsin I protein in HIP and PFC, and the mRNA expression level of BDNF were reduced significantly (P＜0.01), the immunofluorescence expression of BDNF was reduced in CA1, DG and PFC in the PTSD group rats; Compared with the PTSD group, the total distance and the time spending in the center in OFT (P＜0.05), the total distance and the number of entering into the open arm as a percentage of the total number were increased significantly (P＜0.05), the protein expression levels of BDNF, TrkB, PSD95, SynapsinⅠin the PFC and HIP, the mRNA expression level of BDNF were increased significantly (P＜0.05), and the immunofluorescence expression of BDNF was increased significantly in CA1, DG and PFC in the PTSD+40 Hz group rats. CONCLUSION: 40 Hz acousto-optical stimulation improves the formation of anxiety-like symptoms in rats with PTSD, which may be related to the synaptic plasticity influenced by BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway.

Anlotinib treatment in elderly patients with unresectable or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma: a retrospective study.

Palliative chemotherapy can improve outcomes in most patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS), but the treatment of elderly patients remains a challenge because of older age, comorbidities and poor performance status. This study retrospectively analyzed the efficacy and safety of the multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor anlotinib in elderly patients with advanced STS. Eligible patients included those of age at least 60 years, diagnosed with unresectable or metastatic STS, and treated with at least one cycle of anlotinib between June 2018 and September 2020 in our center. Clinical characteristics, treatment response, survival status and adverse events were analyzed by reviewing medical records. The median age of 35 eligible patients was 65 (range, 61-85) years, and the median Charlson Comorbidity Index score was 8 (range, 4-11). Anlotinib as first-line systemic treatment was in 24 (68.6%) patients, and as second-line or third-line treatment in the remaining 11 (31.4%) patients. The objective response rate was 8.6%. The median progression-free survival was 5.5 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4-9.6] months and the median overall survival was 14.3 (95% CI, 9.6-19.0) months. Thirteen (37.1%) patients developed at least one grade 3/4 adverse event during anlotinib treatment. Our findings suggest that anlotinib treatment has promising efficacy and an acceptable toxicity profile in elderly patients with unresectable or metastatic STS. Prospective controlled trials are needed to compare the safety and efficacy of anlotinib and chemotherapy as first-line treatment in elderly patients with advanced STS.

A nomogram model to individually predict prognosis for esophageal cancer with synchronous pulmonary metastasis.

Background: Esophageal cancer (EC) is a life-threatening disease worldwide. The prognosis of EC patients with synchronous pulmonary metastasis (PM) is unfavorable, but few tools are available to predict the clinical outcomes and prognosis of these patients. This study aimed to construct a nomogram model for the prognosis of EC patients with synchronous PM. Methods: From the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, we selected 431 EC patients diagnosed with synchronous PM. These cases were randomized into a training cohort (303 patients) and a validation cohort (128 patients). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses, along with the Kaplan-Meier method, were used to estimate the prognosis and cancer-specific survival (CSS) among two cohorts. Relative factors of prognosis in the training cohort were selected to develop a nomogram model which was verified on both cohorts by plotting the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves as well as the calibration curves. A risk classification assessment was completed to evaluate the CSS of different groups using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: The nomogram model contained four risk factors, including T stage, bone metastasis, liver metastasis, and chemotherapy. The 6-, 12- and 18-month CSS were 55.1%, 26.7%, and 5.9% and the areas under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.818, 0.781, and 0.762 in the training cohort. Likewise, the AUC values were 0.731, 0.764, and 0.746 in the validation cohort. The calibration curves showed excellent agreement both in the training and validation cohorts. There was a substantial difference in the CSS between the high-risk and low-risk groups (P<0.01). Conclusion: The nomogram model serves as a predictive tool for EC patients with synchronous PM, which would be utilized to estimate the individualized CSS and guide therapeutic decisions.

Chalcones derivatives as potent Cell division cycle 25B phosphatase inhibitors.

To discover novel cell division cycle 25 (CDC25) B inhibitors and elucidate the mechanisms of inhibition in cancer cells. Nineteen 2'-hydroxy-4'-isoprenyloxychalcone derivatives (a-s) were evaluated the inhibition CDC25B activity. The enzymatic activities of the CDC25B catalytic domain were determined by monitoring the dephosphorylation of OMFP. Cell growth inhibition was detected by MTT assay. The results showed that sixteen compounds significantly inhibited cycle 25B phosphatase in vitro. Among, three compounds k, r and s had the best inhibition activity and significantly inhibited CDC25B with inhibition rates against CDC25B of 99.95%, 99.75%, and 97.77%, respectively, which is similar to the reference drugs Na3VO4 (98%). Cytotoxic activity assays showed compounds k and r are the potent against HCT116, HeLa, and A549 cells, moreover, compound k delayed the potent tumor inhibitory activity in a colo205 xenograft model in vivo.

[Spectrum-effect relationship between anti-HIV 1 activities and ultra-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints of Rheum species].

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) fingerprints of Rheum species and their anti-HIV 1 activities. METHOD: Twenty two samples of 16 species belonging to genus Rheum from various sources were collected and analyzed in this study. Firstly they were assayed for the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) associated ribonuclease H (RNase H) activity. Secondly the fingerprints were established by an optimized UPLC method. Sample was analyzed by UPLC-TOF-MS/MS to identify major peaks. The possible relationship between UPLC fingerprints and anti-HIV 1 activities of Rheum species were deduced by mathematical statistics method. RESULT: Samples of R. austral, R. austral, R. hotaoense exhibited good anti-HIV 1 activities with IC50 < or = 0.2 mg x L(-1). The correlation of anti-HIV 1 activities and fingerprints showed that three compounds were the main bioactive components, and their retention times were 4.74, 7.99, 21.18 min, respectively. CONCLUSION: Compounds in Rheum species with possible anti-HIV 1 activities were deduced by spectrum-effect relationship study. This study supported for study of medicinal plants in Rheum.

[Study on RSLC fingerprint of Lycii cortex].

OBJECTIVE: To develope a method of RSLC fingerprint analysis for the quality evaluation of Lycii Cortex, and assess the differences of Lycii Cortex from Lycium chinense and L. barbarum. METHODS: All separations were performed using a Rapid Separation Liquid Chromatography (RSLC) system with an Acquity UPLC C18 (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 microm) column. The mobile phase was consisted of acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous acetic acid. The flow rate was 0.3 mL/min using gradient elution. The column temperature was 40 degrees C and detection wavelength was set at 315 nm. Lycii Cortex samples collected from different habitats were assessed by similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principle component analysis (PCA). RESULTS: The characteristic RSLC fingerprint was established with 14 common peaks. 14 hatches of samples were classified as 2 clusters by HCA and PCA, and the result demonstrated that there were differences in the contents of chemical composition between 2 species of Lycii Cortex. CONCLUSION: The established RSLC fingerprint is specific and the method is rapid, simple and reliable, which can be used to control the quality of Lycii Cortex in the markets.