Post-COVID-19 Epidemic: Allostatic Load among Medical and Nonmedical Workers in China.

BACKGROUND: As the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic continues, medical workers may have allostatic load. OBJECTIVE: During the reopening of society, medical and nonmedical workers were compared in terms of allostatic load. METHODS: An online study was performed; 3,590 Chinese subjects were analyzed. Socio-demographic variables, allostatic load, stress, abnormal illness behavior, global well-being, mental status, and social support were assessed. RESULTS: There was no difference in allostatic load in medical workers compared to nonmedical workers (15.8 vs. 17.8%; p = 0.22). Multivariate conditional logistic regression revealed that anxiety (OR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.18-1.31; p < 0.01), depression (OR = 1.23; 95% CI 1.17-1.29; p < 0.01), somatization (OR = 1.20; 95% CI 1.14-1.25; p < 0.01), hostility (OR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.18-1.30; p < 0.01), and abnormal illness behavior (OR = 1.49; 95% CI 1.34-1.66; p < 0.01) were positively associated with allostatic load, while objective support (OR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.78-0.89; p < 0.01), subjective support (OR = 0.84; 95% CI 0.80-0.88; p < 0.01), utilization of support (OR = 0.80; 95% CI 0.72-0.88; p < 0.01), social support (OR = 0.90; 95% CI 0.87-0.93; p < 0.01), and global well-being (OR = 0.30; 95% CI 0.22-0.41; p < 0.01) were negatively associated. CONCLUSIONS: In the post-COVID-19 epidemic time, medical and nonmedical workers had similar allostatic load. Psychological distress and abnormal illness behavior were risk factors for it, while social support could relieve it.

Facile synthesis of prickly platinum-palladium core-shell nanocrystals and their boosted electrocatalytic activity towards polyhydric alcohols oxidation and hydrogen evolution.

Herein, prickly platinum-palladium core-shell nanocrystals (Pt@Pd NCs) were prepared by a facile one-pot aqueous method, only taking sodium pyrrolidone carboxylate (PCA-Na) as the structure director and stabilizing agent. The products were mainly characterized by microscopic analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), followed by discussing the formation mechanism in details. The electrochemical characterizations were examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and chronoamperometry (CA). The results revealed that the prepared architectures had the biggest current density (58.4 mA cm-2) for ethylene glycol oxidation, which is 3.5-fold, 1.2-fold, 2.3-fold and 2.4-flod enhancement relative to those of home-made single Pt nanoparticles (NPs) and Pd NPs, commercial Pt black and Pd black catalysts, respectively. Also, the obtained Pt@Pd NCs showed improved catalytic activity and stability towards glycerol oxidation and hydrogen evolution reactions compared to the references.

Dentritic platinum-palladium/palladium core-shell nanocrystals/reduced graphene oxide: One-pot synthesis and excellent electrocatalytic performances.

Herein, we developed a facile one-pot co-reduction method to fabricate highly dentritic platinum-palladium/palladium core-shell nanocrystals on reduced graphene oxide (PtPd@Pd NCs/rGO), where poly-l-lysine (PLL) worked as the eco-friendly structure director and stabilizer. The nanocomposite was mainly characterized by microscopic analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), along with the discussion of the formation mechanism. The synthesized PtPd@Pd NCs/rGO have the enlarged electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of 51.65 m2 g-1, showing 1.3 folds enhancement in the peak current density relative to commercial Pt/C (50 wt%) for glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR), coupled with the small Tafel slope of 28 mV dec-1 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

One-pot controlled synthesis of AuPd@Pd core-shell nanocrystals with enhanced electrocatalytic performances for formic acid oxidation and glycerol oxidation.

In this work, AuPd@Pd core-shell nanocrystals (AuPd@Pd NCs) were fabricated by a one-pot co-reduction approach, where theophylline-7-acetic acid (TAA) acted asa new structure-directing agent. The crystal structure and composition were mainly characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), together with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The growth mechanism of AuPd@Pd NCs was investigated in detail. The obtained AuPd@Pd NCs exhibited superior catalytic characters for formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR) and glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) in contrast with commercial Pd black in alkaline media.

The Expression and Regulation of Interleukin-33 in Human Epidermal Keratinocytes: A New Mediator of Atopic Dermatitis and Its Possible Signaling Pathway.

Interleukin (IL)-33 is a novel member of the IL-1 superfamily of cytokines that has recently become a focal point for research into the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). However, the expression and regulation of IL-33 in human epidermal keratinocytes have not well been delineated. The aim of this study was to evaluate IL-33 and its receptor ST2L expression in skin lesions of AD patients and explored the signal transduction mechanisms leading to the IL-33 expression and of the IL-33's pharmacological action in keratinocytes from AD patients (ADKs) and those from healthy controls (NHEKs). We performed immunocytochemistry, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to investigate ADKs compared with NHEKs. We found that IL-33/ST2L were positively expressed in the skin lesions of AD patients and a high expression of IL-33 was induced in keratinocytes by IL-4 plus interferon [IFN]-γ or IFN-γ alone at the mRNA and protein levels. Meanwhile, IFN-γ induced IL-33 expression through extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription. The expression of ST2L was increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner in both types of cells incubated with IL-33, and was especially increased in ADKs compared with NHEKs. We examined the cytokine IL-6 and the chemokines CXCL-8/IL-8, CCL-20, CCL-17, CCL-5, and CCL-2 in keratinocytes, which showed increased expression in a time- and dose-dependent manner in ADKs when induced by IL-33. Furthermore, 4 signaling pathways (ERK, p38 MAPK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and nuclear factor-κB) were involved in the IL-33-mediated induction in both cells. In conclusion, IL-33 is closely interlinked in AD skins and keratinocytes. IL-33 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of immune inflammatory responses in AD, which might be a possible therapeutic target in the treatment of AD.

[Alfalfa quality evaluation in the field by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy].

To explore the feasibility of using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to evaluate alfalfa quality rapidly in the field and try to find the appropriate machine and sample preparation method, the representative population of 170 fresh alfalfa samples collected from different regions with different stages and different cuts were scanned by a portable NIRS spectrometer (1 100 - 1 800 nm). This is the first time to build models of fresh alfalfa to rapidly estimate quality in the field for harvesting in time. The calibrations of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were developed through the partial least squares regression (PLS). The determination coefficients of cross-validation (R2((CV)) were 0.831 4, 0.597 9, 0.803 6, 0.786 1 for DM, CP, NDF, ADF, respectively; the root mean standard error of cross-validation (RMSECV) were 1.241 1, 0.261 4, 0.990 3, 0.830 6; The determination coefficients of validation (R2(V)) were 0.815 0, 0.401 1, 0.784 9, 0.752 1 and the root mean standard errors of validation(RMSEP)were 1.06, 0.31, 0.95, 0.80 for DM, CP, NDF, ADF, respectively. For fresh alfalfa ,the calibration of DM, NDF, ADF can do rough quantitative analysis but the CP's calibration is failed. however, as CP in alfalfa hay is enough for animal and the DM, NDF and ADF is the crucial indicator for evaluating havest time, the model of DM, NDF and ADF can be used for evaluating the alfalfa quality rapidly in the field.

[Treatment of leukemia by allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation from sibling donors].

This study was aimed to observe the efficacy and side effects of allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (Allo-PBSCT) in patients with leukemia. The donors were siblings matched with t HLA-A, B, DR loci of recipient. After mobilization with 250 microg/day rhG-CSF for 5 days, peripheral blood stem cells were collected 1 to 2 times. 4 patients with leukemia received 6.78 x 10(8)/kg +/- 1.96 x 10(8)/kg (5 x 10(8)/kg-8.67 x 10(8)/kg) peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which contained 15.02 x 10(6)/kg +/- 8.93 x 10(6)/kg (5.3 x 10(6)/kg-24.23 x 10(6)/kg) CD34(+) cells after modified Bu/Cy conditioning regimen and MTX + CsA + MMF were given for prophylaxis of aGVHD. The results showed that the leukocyte was reduced to the lowest at pretransplantation 2 days-posttransplantation 2 days. Neutrophil amount >0.5 x 10(9)/L was found at 11 - 17 day after transplantation, platelet >50 x 10(9)/L-at 11 - 55 days after transplantation. Out of 4 patients, aGVHD, cGVHD and infection took place in 2,2 and 2 cases, respectively. Bone marrow displayed hematopoietic recovery at 28 day after transplantation, examination of STR in DNA revealed proliferation of donor cells in patients. In conclusion, Allo-PBSCT in combination with modified Bu/Cy conditioning regimen and MTX + CsA + MMF prophylaxis of aGVHD is safety and reliable for treatment of leukemia.