Novel evaluation method based on critical arch height as instability criterion for sustaining arch locked-segment-type slopes.

In sustaining arch locked-segment-type slopes, natural soil arches play a key anti-sliding role in the slope's evolution. In this study, a self-developed model test device was used to simulate the whole process of deformation evolution of sustaining arch locked-segment-type slopes, and the formation of natural sustaining arch and its locking control effect on slope stability were studied. The test results show that the continuous formation and progressive destruction of the sustaining arch were observed. The sustaining arch formed in the second time has the best locking effect, and the anti-sliding force reaches its stress peak point. However, the slope is not in a critically unstable state, instead, the stress is continuously adjusted to form a larger range of soil arch to resist the slope thrust. Consequently, the slope destabilizes until the ultimate shear strength of arch foots is exceeded, at which point the critical arch height of the arch is reached. The critical arch height mechanical model for slope stability analysis was developed based on the soil arching effect and limit equilibrium theory. The applicability of the model was demonstrated by the physical test and Xintan slope data, which can provide some guidance for early warning of landslides.

NIa-Pro of sugarcane mosaic virus targets Corn Cysteine Protease 1 (CCP1) to undermine salicylic acid-mediated defense in maize.

Papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) play pivotal roles in plant defense against pathogen invasions. While pathogens can secrete effectors to target and inhibit PLCP activities, the roles of PLCPs in plant-virus interactions and the mechanisms through which viruses neutralize PLCP activities remain largely uncharted. Here, we demonstrate that the expression and activity of a maize PLCP CCP1 (Corn Cysteine Protease), is upregulated following sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) infection. Transient silencing of CCP1 led to a reduction in PLCP activities, thereby promoting SCMV infection in maize. Furthermore, the knockdown of CCP1 resulted in diminished salicylic acid (SA) levels and suppressed expression of SA-responsive pathogenesis-related genes. This suggests that CCP1 plays a role in modulating the SA signaling pathway. Interestingly, NIa-Pro, the primary protease of SCMV, was found to interact with CCP1, subsequently inhibiting its protease activity. A specific motif within NIa-Pro termed the inhibitor motif was identified as essential for its interaction with CCP1 and the suppression of its activity. We have also discovered that the key amino acids responsible for the interaction between NIa-Pro and CCP1 are crucial for the virulence of SCMV. In conclusion, our findings offer compelling evidence that SCMV undermines maize defense mechanisms through the interaction of NIa-Pro with CCP1. Together, these findings shed a new light on the mechanism(s) controlling the arms races between virus and plant.

Development and Evaluation of a Rapid GII Norovirus Detection Method Based on CRISPR-Cas12a.

Norovirus is highly infectious and rapidly transmissible and represents a major pathogen of sporadic cases and outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis worldwide, causing a substantial disease burden. Recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in norovirus outbreaks in China, significantly higher than in previous years, among which GII norovirus is the predominant prevalent strain. Therefore, rapid norovirus diagnosis is critical for clinical treatment and transmission control. Hence, we developed a molecular assay based on RPA combined with the CRISPER-CAS12a technique targeting the conserved region of the GII norovirus genome, the results of which could be displayed by fluorescence curves and immunochromatographic lateral-flow test strips. The reaction only required approximately 50 min, and the results were visible by the naked eye with a sensitivity reaching 102 copies/µl. Also, our method does not cross-react with other common pathogens that cause intestinal diarrhea. Furthermore, this assay was easy to perform and inexpensive, which could be widely applied for detecting norovirus in settings including medical institutions at all levels, particularly township health centers in low-resource areas.

First Report of Sugarcane Mosaic Virus Infecting Goose Grass in Shandong Province, China.

Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) can infect maize, sugarcane, sorghum, other graminaceous crops, and some weed species (Alegria et al., 2003; Achon et al., 2007). In August 2023, the leaves of goose grass (Eleusine indica) plants surrounding maize fields in a village of Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, China showed mosaic and chlorotic symptoms (26%, 11 of 43 grasses; Figure S1). Three symptomatic goose grass samples were selected and pooled for total RNA isolation using TRIzol reagent (Tiangen, Beijing, China). A small RNA library was created using 2.0 µg of total RNA and the mirVana miRNA Isolation Kit, followed by size selection (18-28 nt), adapter ligation, purification, reverse transcription (RT), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) enrichment. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) was then performed on a HiSeq 2500 platform (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). The adapter sequences were removed and the reads were assembled de novo into larger contigs using ABySS software v. 1.9.0 with a k-mer of 32. Fifty-one contigs were obtained after the reads were spliced and screened (alignment length > 30 bp; e-value ≤ 0.05). The contigs were compared with viral sequences in GenBank using local BLASTn. Thirty-four contigs (34-64 nt) had the highest identities (97.18-100%) with the SCMV genome sequence, covering approximately 12.8% of the SCMV genome (Table S1). The low coverage of small contigs mapping to the SCMV genome in the HTS results may be attributed to variations in sequencing depth and sample preparation quality, biological aspects of the virus affecting siRNA production and detection, as well as the variability in viral genome and its size (Golyaev et al., 2019; Valenzuela et al., 2022). The other 17 contigs did not align to any plant virus sequences, but aligned to plant sequences, including Phragmites australis and Panicum virgatum. Potyvirus-degenerated primers PotyF (5'-ATGGTHTGGTGYATHGARAAYGG-3') and PotyR (5'-TGCTGCKGCYTTCATYTG-3') (Marie-Jeanne et al. 2000) were used in RT-PCR to detect SCMV in symptomatic leaves, yielding a ~300 bp amplicon. Sanger sequencing and BLASTn analysis confirmed the 97.98% nucleotide identity with SCMV isolate BJ (GenBank accession No. AY042184.1). The sequence was deposited in GenBank under accession number OR777055. In addition, specific SCMV primers SCMV-F (5'- TCCGGAACTGTGGATGCA-3') and SCMV-R (5'- GTGGTGCTGCTGCACTCCC-3') (coat protein region, 939 bp) detected the virus in all 11 symptomatic goose grass leaves, with no detection in asymptomatic leaves. Inoculation tests using extracts from symptomatic goose grass on maize plants resulted in mosaic symptoms (7 of 15 plants) at 4-6 days post-inoculation (Figure S2 and 3). However, no symptoms were observed in maize plants following inoculation with leaf extracts from healthy goose grass. RT-PCR confirmed the presence of SCMV in the diseased maize plants. Sequencing analysis revealed that all amplified fragments shared 100% identity with the partial CP-encoding sequence of SCMV. Taken together these results support the presence of SCMV in symptomatic goose grass. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of SCMV in E. indica in China. In general, potyviruses can be easily transmitted in multiple ways including aphid vectors, grafting, and wounding. Therefore, investigating SCMV in goose grass is crucial for developing integrated strategies to prevent its transmission to economically important plants such as maize.

GLUT1 Promotes NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation of Airway Epithelium in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Lung Injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a devastating clinical disease caused by different factors, with high morbidity and mortality. It has been shown that lung injury and inflammation caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can be modulated by NLRP3 inflammasome activation, yet its exact function within the airway epithelium is still unknown. Meanwhile, glucose transporter protein 1 (GLUT1) has been shown to contribute to a number of inflammatory illnesses, including ALI. The present study aimed to assess GLUT1's function in NLRP3 inflammasome activation of airway epithelium in LPS-induced acute lung injury. BALB/c mice and BEAS-2B cells were exposed to LPS (5 mg/kg and 200 µg/mL, respectively), with or without GLUT1 antagonists (WZB117 or BAY876). LPS up-regulated pulmonary expression of NLRP3 and GLUT1 in mice, which could be blocked by WZB117 or BAY876. Pharmacological inhibition of GLUT1 in vivo significantly attenuated lung tissue damage, neutrophil accumulation, and proinflammatory factors release (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1ß) in LPS-exposed mice. Meanwhile, the activation markers of NLRP3 inflammasome (ASC, caspase-1, IL-1ß, and IL-18) induced by LPS were also suppressed. In cultured BEAS-2B cells, LPS induced an increase in GLUT1 expression and triggered activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, both of which were inhibited by GLUT1 antagonists. These results illustrate that GLUT1 participates in LPS-induced ALI and promotes the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in airway epithelial cells.

Parvalbumin neurons in the nucleus accumbens shell modulate seizure in temporal lobe epilepsy.

A growing number of clinical and animal studies suggest that the nucleus accumbens (NAc), especially the shell, is involved in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, the role of parvalbumin (PV) GABAergic neurons in the NAc shell involved in TLE is still unclear. In this study, we induced a spontaneous TLE model by intrahippocampal administration of kainic acid (KA), which generally induce acute seizures in first 2 h (acute phase) and then lead to spontaneous recurrent seizures after two months (chronic phase). We found that chemogenetic activation of NAc shell PV neurons could alleviate TLE seizures by reducing the number and period of focal seizures (FSs) and secondary generalized seizures (sGSs), while selective inhibition of PV exacerbated seizure activity. Ruby-virus mapping results identified that the hippocampus (ventral and dorsal) is one of the projection targets of NAc shell PV neurons. Chemogenetic activation of the NAc-Hip PV projection fibers can mitigate seizures while inhibition has no effect on seizure ictogenesis. In summary, our findings reveal that PV neurons in the NAc shell could modulate the seizures in TLE via a long-range NAc-Hip circuit. All of these results enriched the investigation between NAc and epilepsy, offering new targets for future epileptogenesis research and precision therapy.

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of endoscopic band ligation in the treatment of bleeding from mild to moderate gastric varices type 1.

BACKGROUND: According to practice guidelines, endoscopic band ligation (EBL) and endoscopic tissue adhesive injection (TAI) are recommended for treating bleeding from esophagogastric varices. However, EBL and TAI are known to cause serious complications, such as hemorrhage from dislodged ligature rings caused by EBL and hemorrhage from operation-related ulcers resulting from TAI. However, the optimal therapy for mild to moderate type 1 gastric variceal hemorrhage (GOV1) has not been determined. Therefore, the aim of this study was to discover an individualized treatment for mild to moderate GOV1. AIM: To compare the efficacy, safety and costs of EBL and TAI for the treatment of mild and moderate GOV1. METHODS: A clinical analysis of the data retrieved from patients with mild or moderate GOV1 gastric varices who were treated under endoscopy was also conducted. Patients were allocated to an EBL group or an endoscopic TAI group. The differences in the incidence of varicose relief, operative time, operation success rate, mortality rate within 6 wk, rebleeding rate, 6-wk operation-related ulcer healing rate, complication rate and average operation cost were compared between the two groups of patients. RESULTS: The total effective rate of the two treatments was similar, but the efficacy of EBL (66.7%) was markedly better than that of TAI (39.2%) (P < 0.05). The operation success rate in both groups was 100%, and the 6-wk mortality rate in both groups was 0%. The average operative time (26 min) in the EBL group was significantly shorter than that in the TAI group (46 min) (P < 0.01). The rate of delayed postoperative rebleeding in the EBL group was significantly lower than that in the TAI group (11.8% vs 45.1%) (P < 0.01). At 6 wk after the operation, the healing rate of operation-related ulcers in the EBL group was 80.4%, which was significantly greater than that in the TAI group (35.3%) (P < 0.01). The incidence of postoperative complications in the two groups was similar. The average cost and other related economic factors were greater for the EBL than for the TAI (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: For mild to moderate GOV1, patients with EBL had a greater one-time varix eradication rate, a greater 6-wk operation-related ulcer healing rate, a lower delayed rebleeding rate and a lower cost than patients with TAI.

The C4 photosynthesis bifunctional enzymes, PDRPs, of maize are co-opted to cytoplasmic viral replication complexes to promote infection of a prevalent potyvirus sugarcane mosaic virus.

In maize, two pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) regulatory proteins, ZmPDRP1 and ZmPDRP2, are respectively specific to the chloroplast of mesophyll cells (MCs) and bundle sheath cells (BSCs). Functionally, ZmPDRP1/2 catalyse both phosphorylation/inactivation and dephosphorylation/activation of ZmPPDK, which is implicated as a major rate-limiting enzyme in C4 photosynthesis of maize. Our study here showed that maize plants lacking ZmPDRP1 or silencing of ZmPDRP1/2 confer resistance to a prevalent potyvirus sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV). We verified that the C-terminal domain (CTD) of ZmPDRP1 plays a key role in promoting viral infection while independent of enzyme activity. Intriguingly, ZmPDRP1 and ZmPDRP2 re-localize to cytoplasmic viral replication complexes (VRCs) following SCMV infection. We identified that SCMV-encoded cytoplasmic inclusions protein CI targets directly ZmPDRP1 or ZmPDRP2 or their CTDs, leading to their re-localization to cytoplasmic VRCs. Moreover, we found that CI could be degraded by the 26S proteasome system, while ZmPDRP1 and ZmPDRP2 could up-regulate the accumulation level of CI through their CTDs by a yet unknown mechanism. Most importantly, with genetic, cell biological and biochemical approaches, we provide evidence that BSCs-specific ZmPDRP2 could accumulate in MCs of Zmpdrp1 knockout (KO) lines, revealing a unique regulatory mechanism crossing different cell types to maintain balanced ZmPPDK phosphorylation, thereby to keep maize normal growth. Together, our findings uncover the genetic link of the two cell-specific maize PDRPs, both of which are co-opted to VRCs to promote viral protein accumulation for robust virus infection.

Global fungal-host interactome mapping identifies host targets of candidalysin.

Candidalysin, a cytolytic peptide toxin secreted by the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, is critical for fungal pathogenesis. Yet, its intracellular targets have not been extensively mapped. Here, we performed a high-throughput enhanced yeast two-hybrid (HT-eY2H) screen to map the interactome of all eight Ece1 peptides with their direct human protein targets and identified a list of potential interacting proteins, some of which were shared between the peptides. CCNH, a regulatory subunit of the CDK-activating kinase (CAK) complex involved in DNA damage repair, was identified as one of the host targets of candidalysin. Mechanistic studies revealed that candidalysin triggers a significantly increased double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs), as evidenced by the formation of γ-H2AX foci and colocalization of CCNH and γ-H2AX. Importantly, candidalysin binds directly to CCNH to activate CAK to inhibit DNA damage repair pathway. Loss of CCNH alleviates DSBs formation under candidalysin treatment. Depletion of candidalysin-encoding gene fails to induce DSBs and stimulates CCNH upregulation in a murine model of oropharyngeal candidiasis. Collectively, our study reveals that a secreted fungal toxin acts to hijack the canonical DNA damage repair pathway by targeting CCNH and to promote fungal infection.

Can single progesterone concentration predict miscarriage in early pregnant women with threatened miscarriage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: About 25% of pregnant women experience bleeding in the early stage, and half of them eventually progress to pregnancy loss. Progesterone serves as a useful biomarker to predict miscarriage in threatened miscarriage, yet its performance is still debated. AIM: To evaluate the performance of single serum progesterone predicting miscarriage in early pregnant patients with threatened miscarriage. METHOD: The online database was searched to yield the literature using the terms of 'Abortion', 'Miscarriage', and 'serum Progesterone', including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane library, and China national knowledge infrastructure. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, likelihood ratio (LLR) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were computed. Publication bias was assessed by the deeks funnel plot asymmetry test. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to the progesterone level (< 12 ng/mL), recruited location and region, progesterone measurement method, exogenous progesterone supplement and follow up. RESULTS: In total, 12 studies were eligible to be included in this study, with sample sizes ranging from 76 to 1087. The included patients' gestational age was between 4 and 12 weeks. No significant publication bias was detected from all included studies. The threshold of progesterone reported ranged from 8 to 30 ng/ml. The synthesized area under the ROC curve (0.85, 95% CI 0.81 to 0.88), positive LLR (6.2, 4.0 to 9.7) and DOR (18, 12 to 27) of single progesterone measurement distinguishing miscarriage were relatively good in early pregnant patients with threatened miscarriage. When the threshold of < 12 ng/mL was adapted, the progesterone provided a higher area under the ROC curve (0.90 vs. 0.78), positive LLR (8.3 vs. 3.8) and DOR (22 vs.12) than its counterpart (12 to 30 ng/mL). CONCLUSION: Single progesterone measurement can act as a biomarker of miscarriage in early pregnant patients with threatened miscarriage, and it has a better performance when the concentration is <12 ng/mL. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42021255382).

Fused Functional Organic Material with the Alternating Conjugation of Quinone-Pyrazine as Cathode for Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries.

Organic cathode materials for aqueous rechargeable zinc batteries (ARZBs) are rapidly gaining prominence, while the exploration of compounds with affordable synthesis, satisfactory electrochemical performance, and understandable mechanisms still remains challenging. In this study, 6,8,15,17-tetraaza-heptacene-5,7,9,14,16,18-hexaone (TAHQ) as an easily synthesized organic cathode material with novel quinone/pyrazine alternately conjugated molecule structure is presented. This organic electrode exhibits good capacity with highly reversible redox reactions, and the influence of multi-active structures on the Zn2+ /H+ loading behavior is systematically investigated by ex situ spectroscopy, electrochemical tests, and computation. Both experimental and theoretical studies effectively address the Zn2+ /H+ intercalation/deintercalation kinetics. Benefitting from the fused active functionalities, the assembled Zn//TAHQ battery displays a maximum discharge specific capacity of 254.3 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 , and it maintains remarkable cycle performance with 71% capacity retention after 1000 cycles under 5 A g-1 .

Cardioprotective polyphenols from Geum japonicum var. chinense.

Seven undescribed tannins, namely gejaponin A-G, and one dehydrodigallic acid derivative 3,4-dihydroxy-5-(3,4,5-trihydroxy-1-ethoxycarbonyl phenoxy)benzoic acid, together with eighteen known polyphenols were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of the aerial part of Geum japonicum Thunb. var. chinense F. Bolle. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of comprehensive analysis of UV, IR, NMR, HRMS, and CD spectroscopy experiments. To evaluate their bioactivities, sixteen major compounds were selected to intervene in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative damage on H9c2 rat cardiomyoblasts. Some compounds demonstrated high activity in this assay, of which, the known compounds 16 and 21 exhibited strong protective effects against H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 rat cardiomyoblasts, with a comparable cardioprotective activity as that of the positive control trimetazidine, thereby revealing cardioprotective activities from G. japonicum var. chinense.

Carbohydrate-active enzyme profiles of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strain 84-3 contribute to flavor formation in fermented dairy and vegetable products.

Microbes are critical for flavor formation in fermented foods; however, their mechanisms of action are not fully understood. The microbial composition of 51 dairy and 47 vegetable products was functionally annotated and the carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) profiles of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 84-3 (Lp84-3), isolated from dairy samples, can promote resistant starch (RS) degradation, were analyzed. Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Lactococcus were the predominant genera in dairy products, whereas the major genera in vegetables were Lactobacillus, Weissella, and Carnimonas. Phages from Siphoviridae, Myoviridae, and Herelleviridae were also present in dairy products. Additionally, the glycosyl hydrolase (GHs) family members GH1 and GH13 and the glycosyltransferase (GTs) family members GT2 and GT4 were abundant in Lp84-3. Moreover, Lp84-3 was enriched in butanoate metabolism enzymes and butanoate metabolite compounds. Therefore, fermented food microbes, especially Lp84-3, have an abundant repertoire of enzymes that promote flavor production, as starter improving the flavor of fermented dairy and vegetable products.

[Analysis of diet structure of Kashin-beck disease area in Chamdo-Lhorong of Tibet in 2021].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and compare the dietary structure between healthy people and patients in KBD area of Chamdo-Lhorong of Tibet. METHODS: A case-control study design was used, retrospectively select patients who had completed screening and registered in the national Kashin-Beck Disease surveillance system in 2021 in Luolong County, Qamdo, Tibet as the source population of the case group, and randomly selected people who had not been screened for Kashin-Beck disease in the same county as the control group. The self-made diet questionnaire was used to record the types of food consumption, frequency of food intake, basic information of the respondents, family size and other basic information in the past year by one-on-one interview. RESULTS: The staple food with the highest response among the patients(97.33%) was rice(rice/rice noodle), and the highest response among the healthy people(90%) was non-wheat products, non-fried pasta(bread/steamed bun/noodles/dumplings), except instant noodles.78.7% of patients chose not to eat local wheat(Tibetan noodles), and the number of non-patients who chose to eat non-local wheat(Tibetan noodles) 3-4 times a week was significantly higher than that of patients. The meat and meat products with the highest response in both patients(93.33%) and healthy people(90%) was yak meat(local). The control group also chose to consume beef(non-local/lamb/mutton/other non-processed meat), poultry and livestock offal, fish(all seawater and freshwater fish), shrimp and crabs or other seafood, and their consumption rate and intake frequency were significantly higher than those of the case group. The consumption rate and frequency of tomato, onion and garlic(garlic shoots/leek/onion/onion) and fresh eggs(egg/duck egg/quail egg/goose egg) in control group were significantly higher than those in case group. There was no significant difference in consumption rate and frequency of fruits, milk and dairy products between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In addition to the local highland barley(zanba), most people also chose to purchase rice and flour, which changed the situation of single staple food in the past. However, compared with the healthy population in the disease area, the consumption rate and intake frequency of fish, shrimp and crabs, poultry and livestock viscera, eggs(fresh eggs) and vegetables(tomatoes, scallions, ginger and garlic) in KBD patients were significantly lower, the selection of meat varieties is single, mainly local yak meat, and the overall dietary structure still presents the risk of single type and unbalanced diet.

Proline catabolism is a key factor facilitating Candida albicans pathogenicity.

Candida albicans, the primary etiology of human mycoses, is well-adapted to catabolize proline to obtain energy to initiate morphological switching (yeast to hyphal) and for growth. We report that put1-/- and put2-/- strains, carrying defective Proline UTilization genes, display remarkable proline sensitivity with put2-/- mutants being hypersensitive due to the accumulation of the toxic intermediate pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C), which inhibits mitochondrial respiration. The put1-/- and put2-/- mutations attenuate virulence in Drosophila and murine candidemia models and decrease survival in human neutrophils and whole blood. Using intravital 2-photon microscopy and label-free non-linear imaging, we visualized the initial stages of C. albicans cells infecting a kidney in real-time, directly deep in the tissue of a living mouse, and observed morphological switching of wildtype but not of put2-/- cells. Multiple members of the Candida species complex, including C. auris, are capable of using proline as a sole energy source. Our results indicate that a tailored proline metabolic network tuned to the mammalian host environment is a key feature of opportunistic fungal pathogens.

CRISPR dual enzyme cleavage triggers DNA and RNA substrate cleavage for SARS-CoV-2 dual gene detection.

The widespread dissemination of coronavirus 2019 imposes a significant burden on society. Therefore, rapid detection facilitates the reduction of transmission risk. In this study, we proposed a multiplex diagnostic platform for the rapid, ultrasensitive, visual, and simultaneous detection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab) and N genes. A visual diagnostic method was developed using a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas12a/Cas13a dual-enzyme digestion system integrated with multiplex reverse transcriptase-recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA). Two CRISPR-Cas proteins (Cas12a and Cas13a) were introduced into the system to recognize and cleave the N gene and ORF1ab gene, respectively. We used fluorescent or CRISPR double digestion test strips to detect the digested products, with the N gene corresponding to the FAM channel in the PCR instrument or the T1 line on the test strip, and the ORF1ab gene corresponding to the ROX channel in the PCR instrument or the T2 line on the test strip. The analysis can be completed in less than 20 min. Meanwhile, we assessed the application of the platform and determined a sensitivity of up to 200 copies/mL. Additionally, dual gene validation in 105 clinical nasopharyngeal swab samples showed a 100% positive predictive value agreement and a 95.7% negative predictive value agreement between our method and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Overall, our method offered a novel insight into the rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.

[Tiaoshen acupuncture for primary insomnia: a pilot randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of Tiaoshen (regulating the spirit) acupuncture on cognitive function and sleep quality in patients with primary insomnia (PI). METHODS: Sixty patients with PI were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 2 cases dropped off) and a control group (30 cases, 2 cases dropped off, 1 case was excluded). The patients in the observation group were treated with acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Shenting (GV 24), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), and bilateral Benshen (GB 13), Shenmen (HT 7), Neiguan (PC 6), Sanyinjiao (SP 6). The patients in the control group were treated with shallow needling at non-effective points. Each treatment was provided for 30 min, once every other day, 3 treatments per week for 4 weeks. The Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), digit span test (DST), trail making test (TMT)-A, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and fatigue scale-14 (FS-14) were used to assess cognitive function and sleep quality before and after treatment, as well as in follow-up of 4-week after treatment completion. Correlation analysis was conducted between the differences in PSQI scores and differences in MoCA scores before and after treatment in the observation group. RESULTS: Compared with before treatment, the total score, visuospatial and executive function score and delayed memory score of MoCA as well as DST backward score were increased (P<0.01), while TMT-A time, PSQI and FS-14 scores were significantly reduced (P<0.01) after treatment and in follow-up in the observation group. Compared with before treatment, the PSQI score in the control group was reduced (P<0.01, P<0.05). After treatment and in follow-up, the observation group had significantly higher total score, visuospatial and executive function score, delayed memory score of MoCA, and DST backward score compared to the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01). In the observation group, the TMT-A time was significantly shorter than that in the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01), and the PSQI and FS-14 scores were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.01). In the observation group, there was a negative correlation between the difference in PSQI scores (post-treatment minus pre-treatment) and the difference in MoCA scores (post-treatment minus pre-treatment) (r=-0.481, P<0.01). A similar negative correlation was found between the difference in PSQI scores (follow-up minus pre-treatment) and the difference in MoCA scores (follow-up minus pre-treatment) (r=-0.282, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Tiaoshen acupuncture could improve cognitive function, enhance sleep quality, and alleviate daytime fatigue in patients with PI. The improvement in cognitive function in patients with PI is correlated with the improvement in sleep quality.

Green composite aerogel based on citrus peel/chitosan/bentonite for sustainable removal Cu(II) from water matrices.

Here, we propose a green and sustainable 3D porous aerogel based on citrus peel (CP), chitosan (CS), and bentonite (BT). This aerogel is prepared through a simple sol-gel and freeze-drying process and is designed for efficient capture of Cu(II) ions from water matrices. CCBA-2, with its abundance of active binding sites, exhibits an impressive Cu(II) adsorption yield of 861.58 mg/g. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics follow the Freundlich and pseudo-second-order models, respectively. In the presence of coexisting mixed-metal ions, CCBA-2 demonstrates a significantly higher selectivity coefficient (KdCu = 1138.5) for removing Cu(II) ions compared to other toxic metal ions. Furthermore, the adsorption of Cu(II) ions by CCBA-2 is not significantly affected by coexisting cations/anions, ionic strength, organic matter, or different water matrices. Dynamic fixed-bed column experiments show that the adsorption capacity of Cu(II) ions reaches 377.4 mg/g, and the Yoon-Nelson model accurately describes the adsorption process and breakthrough curve. Through experiments, FTIR, and XPS analyses, we propose a reasonable binding mechanism between CCBA-2 and metal cations, involving electrostatic attraction and chemical chelation between Cu(II) and the functional groups of the aerogel. CCBA-2 saturated with Cu(II) ions can be successfully regenerated by elution with 1 M HNO3, with only a slight decrease in adsorption efficiency (5.3%) after 5 adsorption-desorption cycles. Therefore, CCBA-2 offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly material that can be considered as a viable alternative for the green and efficient removal of toxic Cu(II) ions from wastewater.