Effect of brominated flame retardants exposure on liver function and the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in the US population.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between brominated flame retardants (BFRs) exposure and the human liver was still not well understood. METHODS: A total of 3108 participants (age > 12) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database spanning from 2005 to 2016 were included as the study population, with nine BFRs exhibiting a detection rate of over 70% serving as the exposure factor. The singular effects and combined effects of BFRs exposure on liver injury, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and advanced hepatic fibrosis (AHF) were evaluated separately. Finally, COX regression was employed to explore the hazard ratios associated with individual BFRs. RESULTS: In our analysis of individual exposures, we found significant positive association of PBB153 with alanine aminotransferase (ALT), PBB153 with aspartate aminotransferase (AST), PBDE47, PBDE85, PBDE99, PBDE100, and PBDE154 with alkaline phosphatase (ALP), PBDE28 and PBB153 with gamma-glutamyl transaminase (GGT), PBB153 with the risk of NAFLD and AHF; and significant negative association of PBB153 with ALP, PBDE28, PBDE47, PBDE99, PBDE100, PBDE85, PBDE209, and PBDE154 with albumin (ALB), PBB153 with AST/ALT. The nonlinear analysis results from Restricted Cubic Spline (RCS) further validated these associations (all P<0.05). In the mixed analysis combining Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression and Quantile G-computation (QGC) analysis, BFRs were positively associated with ALT (ß>0, P<0.001), GGT (ß>0, P<0.001), and the risk of NAFLD (OR>1, P=0.007). Conversely, BFRs exhibited significant negative correlations with ALP (ß<0, P<0.001), ALB (ß<0, P<0.001), and AST/ALT (ß<0, P<0.001). Furthermore, the COX regression analysis revealed that PBB153 had the highest hazard ratio among the BFRs. CONCLUSIONS: BFR exposure may increase the risk of liver injury and NAFLD, with no significant association with AHF risk. The impact of BFR exposure on liver health should not be overlooked, especially in individuals residing in impoverished areas.

Research on Ocular Artifacts Removal from Single-Channel Electroencephalogram Signals in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients Based on Support Vector Machine, Improved Variational Mode Decomposition, and Second-Order Blind Identification.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) has recently emerged as a pivotal tool in brain imaging analysis, playing a crucial role in accurately interpreting brain functions and states. To address the problem that the presence of ocular artifacts in the EEG signals of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) severely affects the accuracy of sleep staging recognition, we propose a method that integrates a support vector machine (SVM) with genetic algorithm (GA)-optimized variational mode decomposition (VMD) and second-order blind identification (SOBI) for the removal of ocular artifacts from single-channel EEG signals. The SVM is utilized to identify artifact-contaminated segments within preprocessed single-channel EEG signals. Subsequently, these signals are decomposed into variational modal components across different frequency bands using the GA-optimized VMD algorithm. These components undergo further decomposition via the SOBI algorithm, followed by the computation of their approximate entropy. An approximate entropy threshold is set to identify and remove components laden with ocular artifacts. Finally, the signal is reconstructed using the inverse SOBI and VMD algorithms. To validate the efficacy of our proposed method, we conducted experiments utilizing both simulated data and real OSAS sleep EEG data. The experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm not only effectively mitigates the presence of ocular artifacts but also minimizes EEG signal distortion, thereby enhancing the precision of sleep staging recognition based on the EEG signals of OSAS patients.

Feasibility of implant placement in healed mandibular molar sites: A retrospective cone beam computed tomography study.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Implant placement in the mandibular molar sites plays a crucial role in the restoration of edentulous mandibles. However, the evaluation of bone quantity before implant surgery using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is lacking. PURPOSE: The purpose of this clinical study was to evaluate CBCT images of edentulous patients to analyze the feasibility of implant placement in healed mandibular molar sites. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The CBCT data of 138 patients were analyzed in the sagittal plane for measurements of mandibular bone height (MBH), superior bone height (SBH), inferior bone height (IBH), buccal bone width (BBW), lingual bone width (LBW), and alveolar bone widths (ABWs). The edentulous sites were categorized according to the bone quantity and complexity of the implant surgery. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the site, sex, and age-related variations. An independent t test was used to compare the difference of bone dimension in different sites and between sexes. One-way ANOVA followed by post hoc tests were used to analyze the difference between different age groups. Categorical variables were presented as number of events and percentages. The chi-squared test was used to compare categorical variables (α=.05). RESULTS: A total of 534 sites of interest were recorded, including 274 hemimandibles. A significant difference in BBW was found between the first and second molar sites. Men had higher MBH, SBH, IBH, and BBW than women. The distribution of implant surgical complexity in the conventional group was 63.5%, while the buccolingual tilted implant group accounted for 17.0%, and the complicated group accounted for 19.5%. Of the 274 hemimandibles, an implant could be placed directly at molar sites in 88% of situations. CONCLUSIONS: The BBW at the mandibular second molar site was greater than that at the first molar site. The amount of available bone in the SBH and BBW was greater in men than in women at the healed molar sites. Age did not significantly affect the complexity of the implant surgery. Implants can be placed directly in healed mandibular molar sites in most patients who require a complete arch mandibular implant-supported restoration.

The application of 3D printing in dentistry: A bibliometric analysis from 2012 to 2023.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Three-dimensional (3D) printing has had extensive applications across dentistry, but a comprehensive bibliometric analysis relating to the application of 3D printing in dentistry is lacking. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature concerning the application of 3D printing in dentistry from 2012 to 2023. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The literature search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection Database. The retrieved literature data were downloaded as plain text file in "full record and cited references" format, with software programs (VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Biblioshiny, RStudio, Carrot2, and Microsoft Excel) used for bibliometric analysis and quantitative assessment. RESULTS: The bibliometric analysis incorporated 1911 publications. Revilla-León, Marta was the most productive author. Zurich University had the highest number of publications and citations. The United States dominated the research landscape with the highest publication volume and H-index. The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry was the leading journal in both publication volume and citation frequency. Co-occurrence analysis of keyword and co-cited analysis of reference indicated a robust research environment, characterized by a strong focus on the pursuit of accuracy in dental restorative solutions, biocompatibility of materials, and clinical applications. CONCLUSIONS: Research on 3D printing in the field of dentistry continues to grow. Collaborations with leading organizations and countries have been established, with Revilla-León, Marta et al playing a pivotal role. Top journals represented included the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry and Dental Materials. Main research domain resided in prosthodontics and implantology. Hot research topics included improvements in accuracy, dental materials, and clinical applications centered on implant guide design.

Effectiveness of Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccines Against Illness Caused by the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant During an Outbreak in Guangdong, China : A Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Real-world evidence on inactivated COVID-19 vaccines against the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant of SARS-CoV-2 is limited, leaving an important gap in the evidence base about inactivated COVID-19 vaccines for use by immunization programs. OBJECTIVE: To estimate inactivated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the B.1.617.2 variant. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: The study was based on the first outbreak of the B.1.617.2 variant in mainland China that was discovered and traced in Guangdong in May and June 2021. PARTICIPANTS: 10 805 adult case patients with laboratory-confirmed infection and close contacts. MEASUREMENTS: Participants were categorized as unvaccinated, partially vaccinated (1 dose), and fully vaccinated (2 doses). We estimated VE against the primary outcome of pneumonia and the secondary outcomes of infections, symptomatic infections, and severe or critical illness associated with the B.1.617.2 variant. RESULTS: Results are reported in the order of outcome severity. Of 10 805 participants, 1.3% contracted infections, 1.2% developed symptomatic infections, 1.1% had pneumonia, and 0.2% had severe or critical illness. The adjusted VEs of full vaccination were 51.8% (95% CI, 20.3% to 83.2%) against infection, 60.4% (CI, 31.8% to 88.9%) against symptomatic infection, and 78.4% (CI, 56.9% to 99.9%) against pneumonia. Also, full vaccination was 100% (CI, 98.4% to 100.0%) effective against severe or critical illness. By contrast, the adjusted VEs of partial vaccination against infection, symptomatic infection, and pneumonia were 10.7% (CI, -41.2% to 62.6%), 6.8% (CI, -47.4% to 61.0%), and 11.6% (CI, -42.6% to 65.8%), respectively. LIMITATION: Observational study with possible unmeasured confounders; insufficient data to do reliable subgroup analyses by age and vaccine brand. CONCLUSION: Full vaccination with inactivated vaccines is effective against the B.1.617.2 variant. Effort should be made to ensure full vaccination of target populations. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Natural Science Foundation of China and Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province.

Dual-Path Information Fusion and Twin Attention-Driven Global Modeling for Solar Irradiance Prediction.

Accurate prediction of solar irradiance holds significant value for renewable energy usage and power grid management. However, traditional forecasting methods often overlook the time dependence of solar irradiance sequences and the varying importance of different influencing factors. To address this issue, this study proposes a dual-path information fusion and twin attention-driven solar irradiance forecasting model. The proposed framework comprises three components: a residual attention temporal convolution block (RACB), a dual-path information fusion module (DIFM), and a twin self-attention module (TSAM). These components collectively enhance the performance of multi-step solar irradiance forecasting. First, the RACB is designed to enable the network to adaptively learn important features while suppressing irrelevant ones. Second, the DIFM is implemented to reinforce the model's robustness against input data variations and integrate multi-scale features. Lastly, the TSAM is introduced to extract long-term temporal dependencies from the sequence and facilitate multi-step prediction. In the solar irradiance forecasting experiments, the proposed model is compared with six benchmark models across four datasets. In the one-step predictions, the average performance metrics RMSE, MAE, and MAPE of the four datasets decreased within the ranges of 0.463-2.390 W/m2, 0.439-2.005 W/m2, and 1.3-9.2%, respectively. Additionally, the average R2 value across the four datasets increased by 0.008 to 0.059. The experimental results indicate that the model proposed in this study exhibits enhanced accuracy and robustness in predictive performance, making it a reliable alternative for solar irradiance forecasting.

Fault Diagnosis of Wind Turbine Generators Based on Stacking Integration Algorithm and Adaptive Threshold.

Fault alarm time lag is one of the difficulties in fault diagnosis of wind turbine generators (WTGs), and the existing methods are insufficient to achieve accurate and rapid fault diagnosis of WTGs, and the operation and maintenance costs of WTGs are too high. To invent a new method for fast and accurate fault diagnosis of WTGs, this study constructs a stacking integration model based on the machine learning algorithms light gradient boosting machine (LightGBM), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and stochastic gradient descent regressor (SGDRegressor) using publicly available datasets from Energias De Portugal (EDP). This model is automatically tuned for hyperparameters during training using Bayesian tuning, and the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE) were used to evaluate the model to determine its applicability and accuracy. The fitted residuals of the test set were calculated, the Pauta criterion (3σ) and the temporal sliding window were applied, and a final adaptive threshold method for accurate fault diagnosis and alarming was created. The model validation results show that the adaptive threshold method proposed in this study is better than the fixed threshold for diagnosis, and the alarm times for the GENERATOR fault type, GENERATOR_BEARING fault type, and TRANSFORMER fault type are 1.5 h, 5.8 h, and 3 h earlier, respectively.

The microtubule end-binding affinity of EB1 is enhanced by a dimeric organization that is susceptible to phosphorylation.

In cells, microtubule dynamics are regulated by plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs). End-binding protein 1 (EB1, also known as MAPRE1) acts as a master regulator of +TIP networks by targeting the growing ends of microtubules and recruiting other factors. However, the molecular mechanism underlying high-affinity binding of EB1 to microtubule ends remains an open area of research. Using single-molecule imaging, we show that the end-binding kinetics of EB1 change when the polymerization and hydrolysis rates of tubulin dimers are altered, confirming that EB1 binds to GTP-tubulin and/or GDP-Pi-tubulin at microtubule growing ends. The affinity of wild-type EB1 to these sites is higher than that of monomeric EB1 mutants, suggesting that both calponin homology domains present in the EB1 dimer contribute to end binding. Introduction of phosphomimetic mutations into the EB1 linker domain weakens the end-binding affinity and confers a more curved conformation on the EB1 dimer without compromising dimerization, suggesting that the overall architecture of EB1 is important for its end-binding affinity. Taken together, our results provide insights into how the high-affinity end-binding of EB1 is achieved and how this activity may be regulated in cells.

Serosurvey in SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies against authentic SARS-CoV-2 and its viral variants.

Various variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been emerging and circulating in different parts of the world. Millions of vaccine doses have been administered globally, which reduces the morbidity and mortality of coronavirus disease-2019 efficiently. Here, we assess the immune responses of individuals after two shots of BBIBP-CorV or CoronaVac inactivated vaccine. We measured neutralizing antibody responses after the second vaccination by using authentic SARS-CoV-2 and its viral variants. All the serum samples efficiently neutralized SARS-CoV-2 wild-type lineage, in contrast, a part of serum samples failed to neutralize Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, or Eta lineages, and only several serum samples were able to neutralize Omicron lineage virus strains (BA.1 and BA.2) with low neutralization titer. As compared with the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 wild-type lineage, the neutralization of all other SARS-CoV-2 variant lineages was significantly lower. Considering that all the SARS-CoV-2 mutation viruses challenged the antibody neutralization induced by BBIBP-CorV and CoronaVac, it is necessary to carry out a third booster vaccination to increase the humoral immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 mutation viruses.

Hsa-miR-142-3p reduces collagen I in human scleral fibroblasts by targeting TGF-ß1 in high myopia.

High myopia has been continually increasing globally until now and often results in visual impairment. Scleral extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is considered a common factor contributing to progression of myopia. However, the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in regulating scleral ECM organization is not well understood. We aimed to explore the effect and regulatory mechanism of hsa-miR-142-3p on collagen I in human scleral fibroblasts in high myopia. First, next-generation sequencing was conducted to identify 37 miRNAs differentially expressed in the aqueous humor of high myopia samples and control samples. Furthermore, hsa-miR-142-3p in the aqueous humor was found to positively relate to the ocular axial length. Besides, the results of immunofluorescence and Western blot assay indicated that hsa-miR-142-3p overexpression decreased collagen I expression in the human fetal scleral fibroblasts (HFSFs); while hsa-miR-142-3p downregulation increased collagen I. Moreover, hsa-miR-142-3p targets TGFß-1 gene expression. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot analysis showed that miRNA 142-3p reduced TGFß-1 expression while an inhibitor had an opposite effect. Therefore, there is an inverse relationship between changes in miR-142-3p expression levels and those of collagen1a1 in human scleral fibroblasts. Such a dependence suggests that miR-142-3p may be a target to improve therapeutic management of this condition.

Assessment of antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 in unvaccinated individuals and vaccinees from Omicron-BA.2 infection in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, China.

Currently, the majority of the global population has been vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine, and characterization studies of antibodies in vivo from Omicron breakthrough infection and naive infection populations are urgently needed to provide pivotal clues about accurate diagnosis, treatment, and next-generation vaccine design against SARS-CoV-2 infection. We showed that after infection with Omicron-BA.2, the antibody levels of specific IgM against the Wuhan strain and specific IgG against Omicron were not significantly elevated within 27 days of onset. Interestingly, in this study, the levels of humoral immunity against Omicron-specific IgM were significantly increased after breakthrough infection, suggesting that the detection of Omicron-specific IgM antibodies can be used as a test criterion of Omicron breakthrough infection. In addition, we observed that serums from unvaccinated individuals and the majority of vaccinated infections possessed only low or no neutralizing activity against Omicron at the onset of Omicron breakthrough infections, and at the later stage of Omicron-BA.2 breakthrough infection, levels of neutralization antibody against the Wuhan and Omicron strains were elevated in infected individuals. The findings of this study provide important clues for the diagnosis of Omicron breakthrough infections, antibody characterization studies and vaccine design against COVID-19.

Dynamic chaotic gravitational search algorithm-based kinetic parameter estimation of hepatocellular carcinoma on 18F-FDG PET/CT.

BACKGROUND: Kinetic parameters estimated with dynamic 18F-FDG PET/CT can help to characterize hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aim to evaluate the feasibility of the gravitational search algorithm (GSA) for kinetic parameter estimation and to propose a dynamic chaotic gravitational search algorithm (DCGSA) to enhance parameter estimation. METHODS: Five-minute dynamic PET/CT data of 20 HCCs were prospectively enrolled, and the kinetic parameters k1 ~ k4 and the hepatic arterial perfusion index (HPI) were estimated with a dual-input three-compartment model based on nonlinear least squares (NLLS), GSA and DCGSA. RESULTS: The results showed that there were significant differences between the HCCs and background liver tissues for k1, k4 and the HPI of NLLS; k1, k3, k4 and the HPI of GSA; and k1, k2, k3, k4 and the HPI of DCGSA. DCGSA had a higher diagnostic performance for k3 than NLLS and GSA. CONCLUSIONS: GSA enables accurate estimation of the kinetic parameters of dynamic PET/CT in the diagnosis of HCC, and DCGSA can enhance the diagnostic performance.

Ultrastructural organization of NompC in the mechanoreceptive organelle of Drosophila campaniform mechanoreceptors.

Mechanoreceptive organelles (MOs) are specialized subcellular entities in mechanoreceptors that transform extracellular mechanical stimuli into intracellular signals. Their ultrastructures are key to understanding the molecular nature and mechanics of mechanotransduction. Campaniform sensilla detect cuticular strain caused by muscular activities or external stimuli in Drosophila Each campaniform sensillum has an MO located at the distal tip of its dendrite. Here we analyzed the molecular architecture of the MOs in fly campaniform mechanoreceptors using electron microscopic tomography. We focused on the ultrastructural organization of NompC (a force-sensitive channel) that is linked to the array of microtubules in these MOs via membrane-microtubule connectors (MMCs). We found that NompC channels are arranged in a regular pattern, with their number increasing from the distal to the proximal end of the MO. Double-length MMCs in nompC29+29ARs confirm the ankyrin-repeat domain of NompC (NompC-AR) as a structural component of MMCs. The unexpected finding of regularly spaced NompC-independent linkers in nompC3 suggests that MMCs may contain non-NompC components. Localized laser ablation experiments on mechanoreceptor arrays in halteres suggest that MMCs bear tension, providing a possible mechanism for why the MMCs are longer when NompC-AR is duplicated or absent in mutants. Finally, mechanical modeling shows that upon cuticular deformation, sensillar architecture imposes a rotational activating force, with the proximal end of the MO, where more NOMPC channels are located, being subject to larger forces than the distal end. Our analysis reveals an ultrastructural pattern of NompC that is structurally and mechanically optimized for the sensory functions of campaniform mechanoreceptors.

Health-zkIDM: A Healthcare Identity System Based on Fabric Blockchain and Zero-Knowledge Proof.

The issue of identity authentication for online medical services has been one of the key focuses of the healthcare industry in recent years. Most healthcare organizations use centralized identity management systems (IDMs), which not only limit the interoperability of patient identities between institutions of healthcare, but also create isolation between data islands. The more important matter is that centralized IDMs may lead to privacy disclosure. Therefore, we propose Health-zkIDM, a decentralized identity authentication system based on zero-knowledge proof and blockchain technology, which allows patients to identify and verify their identities transparently and safely in different health fields and promotes the interaction between IDM providers and patients. The users in Health-zkIDM are uniquely identified by one ID registered. The zero-knowledge proof technology is deployed on the client, which provides the user with a proof of identity information and automatically verifies the user's identity after registration. We implemented chaincodes on the Fabric, including the upload of proof of identity information, identification, and verification functions. The experiences show that the performance of the Health-zkIDM system can achieve throughputs higher than 400 TPS in Caliper.

[Application of a parallel branches network based on Transformer for skin melanoma segmentation].

Cutaneous malignant melanoma is a common malignant tumor. Accurate segmentation of the lesion area is extremely important for early diagnosis of the disease. In order to achieve more effective and accurate segmentation of skin lesions, a parallel network architecture based on Transformer is proposed in this paper. This network is composed of two parallel branches: the former is the newly constructed multiple residual frequency channel attention network (MFC), and the latter is the visual transformer network (ViT). First, in the MFC network branch, the multiple residual module and the frequency channel attention module (FCA) module are fused to improve the robustness of the network and enhance the capability of extracting image detailed features. Second, in the ViT network branch, multiple head self-attention (MSA) in Transformer is used to preserve the global features of the image. Finally, the feature information extracted from the two branches are combined in parallel to realize image segmentation more effectively. To verify the proposed algorithm, we conducted experiments on the dermoscopy image dataset published by the International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) in 2018. The results show that the intersection-over-union (IoU) and Dice coefficients of the proposed algorithm achieve 90.15% and 94.82%, respectively, which are better than the latest skin melanoma segmentation networks. Therefore, the proposed network can better segment the lesion area and provide dermatologists with more accurate lesion data.

Viral Characteristics of the Warm Atlantic and Cold Arctic Water Masses in the Nordic Seas.

Nordic Seas are the subarctic seas connecting the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean with complex water masses, experiencing an abrupt climate change. Though knowledge of the marine virosphere has expanded rapidly, the diversity of viruses and their relationships with host cells and water masses in the Nordic Seas remain to be fully revealed. Here, we establish the Nordic Sea DNA virome (NSV) data set of 55,315 viral contigs including 1,478 unique viral populations from seven stations influenced by both the warm Atlantic and cold Arctic water masses. Caudovirales dominated in the seven NSVs, especially in the warm Atlantic waters. The major giant nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) contributed a significant proportion of the classified viral contigs in the NSVs (32.2%), especially in the cold Arctic waters (44.9%). The distribution patterns of Caudovirales and NCLDVs were a reflection of the community structure of their hosts in the corresponding water masses and currents. Latitude, pH, and flow speed were found to be key factors influencing the microbial communities and coinfluencing the variation of viral communities. Network analysis illustrated the tight coupling between the variation of viral communities and microbial communities in the Nordic Seas. This study suggests a probable linkage between viromes, host cells, and surface water masses from both the cool Arctic and warm Atlantic Oceans. IMPORTANCE This is a systematic study of Nordic Sea viromes using metagenomic analysis. The viral diversity, community structure, and their relationships with host cells and the complex water masses from both the cool Arctic and the warm Atlantic oceans were illustrated. The NCLDVs and Caudovirales are proposed as the viral characteristics of the cold Arctic and warm Atlantic waters, respectively. This study provides an important background for the viromes in the subarctic seas connecting the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic Ocean and sheds light on their responses to abrupt climate change in the future.

Comparison of picoeukaryote community structures and their environmental relationships between summer and autumn in the southern Chukchi Sea.

Picoeukaryotes constitute an important component of the living biomass of oceanic communities and play major roles in biogeochemical cycles. There are very few studies on picoeukaryotes found in the Chukchi Sea. This work shows the relationship between community distribution and composition of picoeukaryotes residing in water masses and physicochemical factors in the southern Chukchi Sea studied in both midsummer (July) and early autumn (September), 2012. Illumina 18S V4 rDNA metabarcoding were used as the main tool. In July, Mamiellophyceae, Dinophyceae, and Trebouxiophyceae were the main microbial classes, with Micromonas, Prasinoderma, Telonema, Amoebophrya, Bathycoccus, Picomonas, and Bolidomonas representing the main genera. In September, Trebouxiophyceae surpassed Dinophyceae and was the second main microbial class, with Micromonas, Prasinoderma, Bathycoccus, Bolidomonas, Telonema, Choricystis, and Diaphanoeca representing the main genera. Water mass was the primary factor determining the community composition and diversity of picoeukaryotes. Abundance of Bathycoccus was found to be highly correlated with Alaskan Coastal Water and that of Prasinoderma, Bolidomonas, and Diaphanoeca with Bering Seawater. Nitrate and phosphate content of water in midsummer and dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature in early autumn were the main factors that shaped the abundance of the picoeukaryote community.

Molecular surveillance of coxsackievirus A16 in southern China, 2008-2019.

A national surveillance system on hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) was launched in 2008 in China. Since then, millions of HFMD cases have been reported each year, with enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), and coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6) as the major causative pathogens. Long-term surveillance of viral infection rates and genetic changes is essential for understanding the disease epidemiology pattern. Here, we analyzed molecular surveillance data on CV-A16 covering a period of 12 years (2008-2019) in Guangdong, China, one of the regions reporting the largest number of HFMD cases. Full VP1 sequences of 456 strains were determined to examine the genetic diversity and changes in the distribution of CV-A16 variants. Our study revealed an irregular pattern of CV-A16 infections in Guangdong. Different from the cyclic epidemics observed in some Asia-Pacific regions, there was a continuously high CV-A16 infection rate from 2008 to 2014, and after a period of lower epidemic activity in 2015-2017, an upsurge of CV-A16 infection was observed in 2018-2019. Cocirculation of subgenotypes B1a and B1b was observed, but while subgenotype B1a was predominant from 2008 to 2012, it appears to have been replaced by B1b, which has circulated as the predominant subgenotype since 2013. Phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the circulating CV-A16 strains are endemic, with occasional transmission between neighboring regions. The re-emergence of B1a in 2016-2019 in Guangdong was likely the result of introduction(s) from Southeast Asia. These results highlight the importance of continuous molecular surveillance from different areas, which will improve our understanding of the origin of the epidemic and facilitate the development of strategies for HFMD disease control.

Preparation of boronate-functionalized surface molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres with polydopamine coating for specific recognition and separation of glycoside template.

A facile strategy based on the boronate affinity and polydopamine coating was proposed for the preparation of surface molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres using naringin as the glycoside template. The poly(methacrylic acid-co-methyl methacrylate-co-ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate) microspheres were firstly synthesized as inner cores by suspension polymerization method, and then functionalized with 3-aminophenylboronic acid. The imprinted shell layer was obtained by self-polymerization of dopamine on the surface of boronic acid-functionalized polymer microspheres after reversible immobilization of naringin. The resultant surface molecularly imprinted microspheres showed good imprinting efficiency and recognition specificity toward the template molecule in aqueous environment. The isothermal and kinetic adsorption behaviors of the polymers were investigated. The results showed that the covalent surface imprinted microspheres possessed homogeneous recognition sites, strong adsorption affinity, and rapid rebinding kinetics. In addition, the surface imprinted microspheres were utilized as the sorbents of solid phase extraction to successfully separate and enrich naringin from Citri Grandis extract, and the recovery of naringin in eluting solution reached 84.4%.

Probable Evidence of Fecal Aerosol Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a High-Rise Building.

BACKGROUND: The role of fecal aerosols in the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has been suspected. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the temporal and spatial distributions of 3 infected families in a high-rise apartment building and examine the associated environmental variables to verify the role of fecal aerosols. DESIGN: Epidemiologic survey and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analyses on throat swabs from the participants; 237 surface and air samples from 11 of the 83 flats in the building, public areas, and building drainage systems; and tracer gas released into bathrooms as a surrogate for virus-laden aerosols in the drainage system. SETTING: A high-rise apartment building in Guangzhou, China. PARTICIPANTS: 9 infected patients, 193 other residents of the building, and 24 members of the building's management staff. MEASUREMENTS: Locations of infected flats and positive environmental samples, and spread of virus-laden aerosols. RESULTS: 9 infected patients in 3 families were identified. The first family had a history of travel to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epicenter Wuhan, whereas the other 2 families had no travel history and a later onset of symptoms. No evidence was found for transmission via the elevator or elsewhere. The families lived in 3 vertically aligned flats connected by drainage pipes in the master bathrooms. Both the observed infections and the locations of positive environmental samples are consistent with the vertical spread of virus-laden aerosols via these stacks and vents. LIMITATION: Inability to determine whether the water seals were dried out in the flats of the infected families. CONCLUSION: On the basis of circumstantial evidence, fecal aerosol transmission may have caused the community outbreak of COVID-19 in this high-rise building. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province and the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong.