Association between compound extreme weather event types and the spectrum of emergency ambulance calls: A metropolitan study in Shenzhen.

BACKGROUND: Compound extreme weather events, a combination of weather and climate drivers that lead to potentially high-impact events, are becoming more frequent with climate change. The number of emergency ambulance calls (EACs) is expected to increase during compound extreme weather events. However, the extent of these increases and the trends over time have not been fully assessed. METHODS: We obtained 242,165 EAC records for Shenzhen from January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2023. A compound extreme weather event was defined as the occurrence of at least two extreme weather events on the same day. A distributed lag non-linear model was used to explore the exposure-response and lag-response relationships between various compound extreme weather events and all-cause and specific-cause EACs. FINDING: Compound Cold & Strong Monsoon events had more significant impacts on EACs for all causes and endocrine diseases, with the cumulative relative risk (CRR) of 1.401 (95% confidence interval (CI):1.290-1.522) and 1.641 (95% CI:1.279-2.105). Compound Heat Wave & Lightning events had more obvious impacts on digestive disease and endocrine disease EACs, with the CRRs of 1.185 (95% CI:1.041-1.348) and 1.278 (95% CI:0.954-1.711), respectively. Compound Rainstorm & Lightning & Heat Wave events also led to increased RRs of EACs for all causes (CRR: 1.168, 95% CI:1.012-1.348), cardiovascular diseases (CRR: 1.221, 95% CI:0.917-1.624), digestive diseases (CRR: 1.395, 95% CI:1.130-1.721), and endocrine diseases (CRR: 1.972, 95% CI:1.235-3.149). There was no increased RR in the compound Rainstorm & Lightning events for all types of EACs. INTERPRETATION: Our study explored the relationship between EACs and compound extreme weather events, suggesting that compound extreme weather events are associated with the acute onset of cardiovascular diseases, digestive diseases, and endocrine diseases, increasing the burden on emergency ambulance resources for both all causes and specific diseases mentioned above.

A Coupling-Induced Assembly Strategy for Constructing Artificial Shell on Mitochondria in Living Cells.

The strategy of in vivo self-assembly has been developed for improved enrichment and long-term retention of anticancer drug in tumor tissues. However, most self-assemblies with non-covalent bonding interactions are susceptible to complex physiological environments, leading to weak stability and loss of biological function. Here, we develop a coupling-induced assembly (CIA) strategy to generate covalently crosslinked nanofibers, which is applied for in situ constructing artificial shell on mitochondria. The oxidation-responsive peptide-porphyrin conjugate P1 is synthesized, which self-assemble into nanoparticles. Under the oxidative microenvironment of mitochondria, the coupling of thiols in P1 causes the formation of dimers, which is further ordered and stacked into crosslinked nanofibers. As a result, the artificial shell is constructed on the mitochondria efficiently through multivalent cooperative interactions due to the increased binding sites. Under ultrasound (US) irradiation, the porphyrin molecules in the shell produce a large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that act on the adjacent mitochondrial membrane, exhibiting ~2-fold higher antitumor activity than nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the mitochondria-targeted CIA strategy provides a novel perspective on improved sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and shows potential applications in antitumor therapies.

Monolithic Interphase Enables Fast Kinetics for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Batteries at Subzero Temperature.

In spite of the competitive performance at room temperature, the development of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is still hindered by sluggish electrochemical reaction kinetics and unstable electrode/electrolyte interphase under subzero environments. Herein, a low-concentration electrolyte, consisting of 0.5M NaPF6 dissolving in diethylene glycol dimethyl ether solvent, is proposed for SIBs working at low temperature. Such an electrolyte generates a thin, amorphous, and homogeneous cathode/electrolyte interphase at low temperature. The interphase is monolithic and rich in organic components, reducing the limitation of Na+ migration through inorganic crystals, thereby facilitating the interfacial Na+ dynamics at low temperature. Furthermore, it effectively blocks the unfavorable side reactions between active materials and electrolytes, improving the structural stability. Consequently, Na0.7Li0.03Mg0.03Ni0.27Mn0.6Ti0.07O2//Na and hard carbon//Na cells deliver a high capacity retention of 90.8 % after 900 cycles at 1C, a capacity over 310 mAh g-1 under -30 °C, respectively, showing long-term cycling stability and great rate capability at low temperature.

CircRBM23 regulates the switch between osteogenesis and adipogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells via sponging miR-338-3p.

BACKGROUND: The disruption of the balance between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in bone marrow contributes to the adipocytes accumulation and bone loss, which leads to the development of osteoporosis (OP). The circular RNA (circRNA), circRBM23, was generated from the RNA binding motif protein 23 (RBM23) gene. It was reported that circRBM23 was down-regulated in OP patients, but it remains unknown whether its down-regulation is involved in the lineage switch of MSCs. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the role and mechanism of circRBM23 in regulating the switch between osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation of MSCs. METHODS: The expression and function of circRBM23 in vitro were detected by qRT-PCR, alizarin red staining, and oil Red O staining. The interactions between circRBM23 and microRNA-338-3p (miR-338-3p) were analyzed by RNA pull-down assay, FISH, and dual-luciferase reporter assay. MSCs treated with lentivirus overexpression of circRBM23 was applied for both in vitro and in vivo experiments. RESULTS: CircRBM23 was expressed at lower levels in OP patients. Besides, circRBM23 was up-regulated during osteogenesis and down-regulated during adipogenesis of MSCs. CircRBM23 could promote the osteogenic differentiation but inhibit the adipogenic differentiation of MSCs. Mechanistically, circRBM23 acted as a sponge for microRNA-338-3p (miR-338-3p) to enhance the expression of RUNX family transcription factor 2 (RUNX2). CONCLUSIONS: Our research indicates that circRBM23 could promote the switch from adipogenic to osteogenic differentiation of MSCs via sponging miR-338-3p. It might improve the understanding of the lineage switch of MSCs and provide a potential target for diagnosing and treating OP.

New Bisabolane-Type Sesquiterpenoids from Curcuma longa and Their Anti-Atherosclerotic Activity.

To explore the sesquiterpenoids in Curcuma longa L. and their activity related to anti-atherosclerosis. The chemical compounds of the rhizomes of C. longa were separated and purified by multiple chromatography techniques. Their structures were established by a variety of spectroscopic experiments. The absolute configurations were determined by comparing experimental and calculated NMR chemical shifts and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Their anti-inflammatory effects and inhibitory activity against macrophage-derived foam cell formation were evaluated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-injured RAW264.7 macrophages, respectively. This study resulted in the isolation of 10 bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids (1-10) from C. longa, including two pairs of new epimers (curbisabolanones A-D, 1-4). Compound 4 significantly inhibited LPS-induced nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, compound 4 showed inhibitory activity against macrophage-derived foam cell formation, which was represented by markedly reducing ox-LDL-induced intracellular lipid accumulation as well as total cholesterol (TC), free cholesterol (FC), and cholesterol ester (CE) contents in RAW264.7 cells. These findings suggest that bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids, one of the main types of components in C. longa, have the potential to alleviate the atherosclerosis process by preventing inflammation and inhibiting macrophage foaming.

Improving assessment quality of soil natural attenuation capacity at the point and regional scales.

Soil natural attenuation capacity (NAC) is an important ecosystem service that maintains a clean environment for organisms in the soil, which in turn supports other services. However, spatially varying indicator weights were rarely considered in the traditionally-used soil NAC assessment model (e.g., ecosystem-service performance model) at the point scale. Moreover, in the spatial simulation of soil NAC, the traditionally-used geostatistical models were usually susceptible to spatial outliers and ignored valuable auxiliary information (e.g., land-use types). This study first proposed a novel soil NAC assessment method based on the ecosystem-service performance model and moving window-entropy weight method (MW-EW) (NACMW-EW). Next, NACMW-EW was used to assess soil NAC in a typical area in Guixi City, China, and further compared with the traditionally-used NACtra and NACEW. Then, robust sequential Gaussian simulation with land-use types (RSGS-LU) was established for the spatial simulation of NACMW-EW and compared with the traditionally-used SGS, SGS-LU, and RSGS. Last, soil NAC's spatial uncertainty was evaluated based on the 1000 realizations generated by RSGS-LU. The results showed that: (i) MW-EW effectively revealed the spatially varying indicator weights but EW couldn't; (ii) NACMW-EW obtained more reasonable results than NACtra and NACEW; (iii) RSGS-LU (RMSE = 0.118) generated higher spatial simulation accuracy than SGS-LU (RMSE = 0.123), RSGS (RMSE = 0.132), and SGS (RMSE = 0.135); and (iv) the relatively high (P[NACMW-EW(u) > 0.57] ≥ 0.95) and low (P[NACMW-EW(u) > 0.57] ≤ 0.05) threshold-exceeding probability areas were mainly located in the south and east of the study area, respectively. It is concluded that the proposed methods were effective tools for soil NAC assessment at the point and regional scales, and the results provided accurate spatial decision support for soil ecosystem service management.

Inhibition of PARP1 Dampens Pseudorabies Virus Infection through DNA Damage-Induced Antiviral Innate Immunity.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is the causative pathogen of Aujeszky's disease in pigs. Although vaccination is currently applied to prevent the morbidity of PRV infection, new applications are urgently needed to control this infectious disease. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) functions in DNA damage repair. We report here that pharmacological and genetic inhibition of PARP1 significantly influenced PRV replication. Moreover, we demonstrate that inhibition of PARP1 induced DNA damage response and antiviral innate immunity. Mechanistically, PARP1 inhibition-induced DNA damage response resulted in the release of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) into the cytosol, where dsDNA interacted with cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synthase (cGAS). cGAS subsequently catalyzed cGAMP production to activate the STING/TBK1/IRF3 innate immune signaling pathway. Furthermore, challenge of mice with PARP1 inhibitor stimulated antiviral innate immunity and protected mice from PRV infection in vivo. Our results demonstrate that PARP1 inhibitors may be used as a new strategy to prevent Aujeszky's disease in pigs. IMPORTANCE Aujeszky's disease is a notifiable infectious disease of pigs and causes economic losses worldwide in the pig industry. The causative pathogen is PRV, which is a member of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae of the family Herpesviridae. PRV has a wide range of hosts, such as ruminants, carnivores, and rodents. More seriously, recent reports suggest that PRV can cause human endophthalmitis and encephalitis, which indicates that PRV may be a potential zoonotic pathogen. Although vaccination is currently the major strategy used to control the disease, new applications are also urgently needed for the pig industry and public health. We report here that inhibition of PARP1 induces DNA damage-induced antiviral innate immunity through the cGAS-STING signaling pathway. Therefore, PARP1 is a therapeutic target for PRV infection as well as alphaherpesvirus infection.

Endoscopic incision of rectal diverticulum: A case report.

A 70-year-old woman with a rectal diverticulum presented with anal pendant expansion and difficulty in defecation for more than 1 year. The patient was diagnosed with a rectal diverticulum by pelvic enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), rectal angiography, and colonoscopy. The endoscopic diverticulum incision procedure (EDIP) was implemented with this patient. At the 4-month follow-up, anal pendant expansion and difficulty in defecation were significantly relieved. Furthermore, colonoscopy proved that there were no vestigial feces in the diverticulum.

[A pair of enantiomeric sesquiterpenoids from florets of Carthamus tinctorius].

This study investigated the chemical components from the florets of Carthamus tinctorius. Five compounds were isolated from C. tinctorius by column chromatography with silica gel and toyopearl HW-40 F, preparative thin-layer chromatography(TLC), and semi-preparative reverse phased high performance liquid chromatography(RP-HPLC). Their structures were identified by mass spectrometry(MS), one-dimension nuclear magnetic resonance(1 D-NMR), two-dimension nuclear magnetic resonance(2 D-NMR), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction as(-)-(2S,3S,5S,7S,10R)-eudesma-4(15)-en-2,3,11-triol(1 a),(+)-(2R,3R,5R,7R,10S)-eudesma-4(15)-en-2,3,11-triol(1 b), rosin(2),(+)-syringaresinol(3), and(E)-1-(4'-hydroxyphenyl)-but-1-en-3-one(4). Compounds 1 a and 1 b are a pair of enantiomeric sesquiterpenoids. Compound 1 a is a new eudesmene and is named(-)-plucheol A. Compound 1 a at 100 µmol·L~(-1) showed significant antioxidant activity against ABTS~(+·) and DPPH·, with the scavenging rates of 30.98%±4.17% and 27.52%±1.24%, respectively, while compound 1 b was inactive. In addition, compounds 1 a and 1 b showed no obvious anti-inflammatory activity.

Optofluidic lenticular lens array for a 2D/3D switchable display.

In this paper, we propose an optofluidic lenticular lens array (OLLA) for a two-dimensional/three-dimensional (2D/3D) switchable display. The OLLA includes a bottom substrate layer with lenticular lens structure, a microfluidic layer with microchannels, and a top substrate layer with inlets as well as outlets. A micro gap is formed between the lenticular lens of the bottom substrate layer and the top substrate layer. When air is in the micro gap, the OLLA behaves as a lenticular lens array, which can realize 3D display. When fluid is filled in the micro gap, because the refractive index of the fluid is the same with the lenticular lens structure, the OLLA equivalents to a transparent flat panel, which can realize a 2D display. Experiments verify that a switchable 2D/3D display prototype based on this OLLA and a smartphone achieves both high-resolution 2D display and high-quality 3D display.