Arsenic trioxide (As2O3, ATO) has limited therapeutic benefit to treat solid tumors, whether used alone or in combination. Nanoscale drug delivery vehicles have great potential to overcome the limitation of the utility of ATO by rapid renal clearance and dose-limiting toxicity. Polymeric materials ranging from gelatin foam to synthetic polymers such as poly(vinyl alcohol) were developed for vascular embolic or chemoembolic applications. Recently, we have introduced sevelamer, an oral phosphate binder, as a new polymeric...

We identified relapsing fever (RF) Borrelia in 1.45% (145/10426) of the ticks and 1.40% (40/2850) of the wild mammals in a field investigation in China. Three RF Borrelia species, including human-pathogenic Borrelia miyamotoi, Borrelia persica and unclassified Babesia sp. were determined. Main species determined from ticks was B. miyamotoi (44.14%), followed by the unclassified Borrelia sp. (42.76%), and Borrelia theileri (13.10%). In wild mammals, main species found was B. persica (57.50%), followed by the unclassified...

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cannot be completely cured, mainly due to the existence of a latent HIV-1 reservoir. However, our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the establishment and maintenance of HIV-1 latent reservoir is not comprehensive. Here, using a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 activation library screening, we identified E3 ubiquitin ligase F-box protein 34 (FBXO34) and the substrate of FBXO34, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein U (hnRNP U) was identified by affinity purification mass spectrometry, as new...

Prolonged infection and possible evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in patients living with uncontrolled HIV-1 infection highlight the importance of an effective vaccination regimen, yet the immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines and predictive immune biomarkers have not been well investigated. Herein, we report that the magnitude and persistence of antibody and cell-mediated immunity (CMI) elicited by an Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine are impaired in SIV-infected macaques with high viral loads (> 105 genome copies per ml plasma, SIVhi) but...

Acute acidic stress from sources such as acid rain might impact on lake ecosystems in many aspects. Because zooplankton is sensitive to environmental change, it could be a good biotic indicator of the effects of acidification. We investigated survival and metabolic rates of three dominant zooplankton taxa in Lake Biwa, the cladoceran Daphnia pulicaria, and the copepods Eodiaptomus japonicus and Cyclopoida spp., when subjected to different pH values (pH 4.0−8.0) at low (10 °C) and...

The purpose of this work was to analyze and evaluate the functional properties of a new nanoemulsion that contained cordycepin. Droplet size and distribution were measured, and the stability of the nanoemulsion in different storage conditions was evaluated. We also tested skin irritation caused by the nanoemulsion, cordycepin stability in the nanoemulsion, anti-aging effect, and microbial challenge. The nanoemulsion was homogeneous with proper dispersion stability, and cordycepin was stable for eight months within the cosmetic...

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease with a range of observable phenotypes. To date, the characterization of asthma phenotypes is mostly limited to allergic versus non-allergic disease. Therefore, the aim of this big data study was to computationally derive asthma subtypes from the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium We obtained data from 2012-2020 from the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium. Longitudinal data for patients greater than two years of age who met inclusion criteria for an asthma exacerbation...

Antibody persistence and safety up to 12 months of heterologous orally administered adenovirus type-5 vector-based COVID-19 vaccine (Ad5-nCoV) in individuals who were primed with two-dose inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (CoronaVac) previously, has not been reported yet. This randomized, open label, single-center trial included Chinese adults who have received two-dose CoronaVac randomized to low-dose or high-dose aerosolised Ad5-nCoV group, or CoronaVac group. In this report, we mainly evaluated the geometric mean titres (GMTs) of neutralising antibodies (NAbs)...

How much the vaccine contributes to the induction and development of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) of breakthrough cases relative to those unvaccinated-infected cases is not fully understood. We conducted a prospective cohort study and collected serum samples from 576 individuals who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 Delta strain infection, including 245 breakthrough cases and 331 unvaccinated-infected cases. NAbs were analyzed by live virus microneutralization test and transformation of NAb titer. NAbs titers against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral and Delta...

Carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) has been a major threat to human health due to its increased morbidity and mortality in clinical settings. Carbapenemase genes are less frequently found in CRPA compared with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, of which carbapenemase producers are common. In this study, we identified 11 blaKPC-2-harboring P. aeruginosa isolates from 139 carbapenemase-insensitive P. aeruginosa isolates collected between 2010 and 2021 in a tertiary hospital in China. Nine isolates belonged to ST697, while the other...

Late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian (Cadomian) magmatic rocks are abundant in Iran, but their occurrence in east-central Iran is voluminous. This paper reports, for the first time, on the Cadomian rocks of the eastern Iranian region known as Tapeh Tagh and deals with their geochemistry and uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon ages. The Tapeh Tagh region contains masses of Cadomian meta-igneous rocks (including various types of granitic gneiss) and overlying meta-sedimentary rocks. The granitic gneisses show tectonic...

Objectives: To determine the frequency and correlates of apathy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and its influence on the prognosis of the disease. Methods: Three databases were searched: MEDLINE, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Quantitative synthesis of the frequency of apathy in ALS was conducted using random effects in Stata (College Station, TX). Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to investigate the association between frequency of apathy in ALS and different covariates. Results: Fifty-two studies (51...

Coxsackievirus A10 (CV-A10) has become one of the major pathogens of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), and studies on the vaccine and animal model of CV-A10 are still far from complete. Our study used a mouse adapted CV-A10 strain, which was lethal for 14-day-old mice, to develop an infected mouse model. Then this model was employed to establish an actively immunized-challenged mouse model to evaluate the efficacy of a formaldehyde-inactivated CV-A10 vaccine, which was...