Recent Insight on Regulations of FBXW7 and Its Role in Immunotherapy.

SCFFBXW7 E3 ubiquitin ligase complex is a crucial enzyme of the ubiquitin proteasome system that participates in variant activities of cell process, and its component FBXW7 (F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7) is responsible for recognizing and binding to substrates. The expression of FBXW7 is controlled by multiple pathways at different levels. FBXW7 facilitates the maturity and function maintenance of immune cells via functioning as a mediator of ubiquitination-dependent degradation of substrate proteins. FBXW7 deficiency or mutation results in the growth disturbance and dysfunction of immune cell, leads to the resistance against immunotherapy, and participates in multiple illnesses. It is likely that FBXW7 coordinating with its regulators and substrates could offer potential targets to improve the sensitivity and effects of immunotherapy. Here, we review the mechanisms of the regulation on FBXW7 and its tumor suppression role in immune filed among various diseases (mostly cancers) to explore novel immune targets and treatments.

Development and Validation of a Necroptosis-Related Prognostic Model in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Necroptosis is a new regulated cell-death mechanism that plays a critical role in various cancers. However, few studies have considered necroptosis-related genes (NRGs) as prognostic indexes for cancer. As one of the most common cancers in the world, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) lacks effective diagnostic strategies at present. Hence, a series of novel prognostic indexes are required to support clinical diagnosis. Recently, many studies have confirmed that necroptosis was a key regulated mechanism in HNSCC, but no systematic study has ever studied the correlation between necroptosis-related signatures and the prognosis of HNSCC. Thus, in the current study, we aimed to construct a risk model of necroptosis-related signatures for HNSCC. We acquired 159 NRGs from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and compared them with samples of normal tissue downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), ultimately screening 38 differentially expressed NRGs (DE-NRGs). Then, by Cox regression analysis, we successfully identified 7 NRGs as prognostic factors. We next separated patients into high- and low-risk groups via the prognostic model consisting of 7 NRGs. Individuals in the high-risk group had much shorter overall survival (OS) times than their counterparts. Furthermore, using Cox regression analysis, we confirmed the necroptosis-related prognostic model to be an independent prognostic factor for HNSCC. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis proved the predictive ability of this model. Finally, Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data sets (GSE65858, GSE4163) were used as independent databases to verify the model's predictive ability, and similar results obtained from two data sets confirmed our conclusion. Collectively, in this study, we first referred to necroptosis-related signatures as an independent prognostic model for cancer via bioinformatics measures, and the necroptosis-related prognostic model we constructed could precisely forecast the OS time of patients with HNSCC. Utilizing the model may significantly improve the diagnostic rate and provide a series of new targets for treatment in the future.

Infectious Disease Outbreak and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: As one of the most widely researched consequence of traumatic events, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among people exposed to the trauma resulting from infectious disease outbreak varies greatly across studies. This review aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of PTSS among people exposed to the trauma resulting from infectious disease outbreak, summarizing the possible causes of the inconsistencies in the current estimates. Methods: Systematic searches of databases were conducted for literature published on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, PsycArticles, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) until 14 October 2020. Statistical analyses were performed using R software (registration number: CRD42020182366). Results: About 106 studies were included. The results showed that the pooled prevalence of PTSS among the general population exposed to the trauma resulting from infectious disease outbreak was 24.20% (95% CI: 18.54-30.53%), the pooled prevalence of PTSS among healthcare workers was 24.35% (95% CI: 18.38-1.51%), the pooled prevalence of PTSS among patients with infectious disease was 28.83% (95% CI: 18.53-44.86%), and the pooled prevalence of PTSS among suspected cases of infectious disease was 25.04% (95% CI: 18.05-34.73%). Mortality rate was a significant contributor to heterogeneity. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that PTSS were very common among people exposed to the trauma resulting from infectious disease outbreak. Health policymakers should consider both short-term and long-term preventive strategy of PTSS.

Prevalence of Smell or Taste Dysfunction Among Children With COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Smell and taste dysfunctions are common and have been reported as an early indicator of COVID-19. The prevalence of smell and taste dysfunctions among children with COVID-19 varies greatly across studies, which remains to be summarized quantitatively. This review aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of smell or taste dysfunctions among children with COVID-19, summarizing possible causes of the inconsistencies in the current estimates. Methods: Systematic searches of databases were conducted for literature published until 12 January 2021. Statistical analyses were performed using R software, the pooled prevalence was combined using random effects model. The Loney criteria were used for quality assessment. Results: A total of 18 eligible studies were included. The results showed that the pooled prevalence of smell dysfunction among children with COVID-19 was 15.97% (95% CI: 8.18-23.77%), the pooled prevalence of taste dysfunction among children with COVID-19 was 9.20% (95% CI: 4.25-14.16%), the pooled prevalence of smell or taste dysfunction among children with COVID-19 was 15.50% (95% CI: 10.30-20.70%) and the pooled prevalence of smell and taste dysfunction among children with COVID-19 was 20.21% (95% CI: 14.14-26.28%). Higher smell or taste dysfunction rates were associated with being female, younger age, smaller sample size, patients in Asia, and with comorbidities. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that smell or taste dysfunctions were common among children with COVID-19. Further research is needed to identify effective strategies for preventing and treating smell and taste dysfunctions among children with COVID-19.

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people influenced by coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: As one of the most widely researched consequence of traumatic events, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak varies greatly across studies. This review aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS: Systematic searches of databases were conducted for literature published on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, PsycArticle, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure until October 14, 2020. Statistical analyses were performed using R software (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020180309). RESULTS: A total of 106,713 people exposed to the trauma resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak were identified in the 76 articles, of which 33,810 were reported with post-traumatic stress symptoms. The pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak was 28.34%, with a 95% confidence interval of 23.03-34.32%. Subgroup analysis indicated that older age, male and bigger sample size were associated with higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. After controlling for other factors, the results of meta-regression showed that the influence of gender and sample size on prevalence is no longer significant. CONCLUSIONS: Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were very common among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. Further research is needed to explore more possible risk factors for post-traumatic stress symptoms and identify effective strategies for preventing PTSD-related symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak.

Strategic management of pediatric intensive care unit in a tertiary children's hospital in southwest China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since early December 2019, patients with unknown pneumonia have been found in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The pathogen in these cases was quickly identified as a new type of coronavirus. The World Health Organization named it 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), and the disease caused by the pathogen was called 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), which was characterized by higher pathogenicity, transmission of human to human. So it has rapidly spread to more than 190 countries all over the world. With the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, preventing the spread of COVID-19 is the primary problem. Despite fewer children than adults have been affected by the COVID-19, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), as a ward for critically ill patients, is also confronted with high risk of 2019-nCoV infection. It is necessary for PICU managers to thoroughly carry out scientific and effective department management and carefully execute of infection control measures to prevent the transmission. According to recommendations for the COVID-19 prevention and control, the relevant guidelines and the authors' work experience, this paper proposes and optimizes the strategic plan for the management of COVID-19 outbreak in PICU, and emphasizes that department managers should conduct comprehensive risk assessments, manage the pediatric patients and healthcare workers meticulously, strengthen the implementation of infection control measures, and use risk management and process control to effectively manage the department as well as to protect the safety of both the patients and the staff.

Policies to Improve the Mental Health of People Influenced by COVID-19 in China: A Scoping Review.

Background: In response to the potentially concurrent mental health crisis due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been ongoing mental health policies put in place in China. This review aims to systematically synthesize the implemented national-level mental health policies released by the Chinese government during the COVID-19 outbreak, and summarize the implementation of those mental health policies. Methods: Six databases and two websites were systematically searched, including published studies and gray literature published between December 1, 2019 and October 29, 2020. Results: A total of 40 studies were included. Among them, 19 were national-level policies on mental health released by the Chinese government, and 21 studies reported data on the implementation of those mental health policies. Mental health policies were issued for COVID-19 patients, suspected cases, medical staff, the general population, patients with mental illness, and mental institutions. In the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic, attention was paid to psychological crisis intervention. In the later stage of the epidemic, the government focused mainly on psychological rehabilitation. During the COVID-19 outbreak, more than 500 psychiatrists from all over China were sent to Wuhan, about 625 hotlines were notified in 31 provinces, several online psychological consultation platforms were established, social software such as TikTok, Weibo, and WeChat were used for psychological education, and many books on mental health were published. Responding quickly, maximizing the use of resources, and emphasizing the importance of policy evaluation and implementation quality were characteristics of the mental health policies developed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Challenges facing China include a low rate of mental health service utilization, a lack of evaluation data on policy effects, and no existing national-level emergency response system and designated workforce to provide psychological crisis interventions during a national emergency or disaster. Conclusions: This review suggests that China has responded quickly and comprehensively to a possible mental health crisis during the COVID-19 outbreak, appropriate mental health policies were released for different members of the population. As the epidemic situation continues to change, the focus of mental health policies has been adjusted accordingly. However, we should note that there has been a lack of separate policies for specific mental health issues during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Clinical characteristics and plasma antibody titer of patients with COVID-19 in Zhejiang, China.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which first affected humans in China on December 31, 2019 (Shi et al., 2020). Coronaviruses generally cause mild, self-limiting upper respiratory tract infections in humans, such as the common cold, pneumonia, and gastroenteritis (To et al., 2013; Berry et al., 2015; Chan et al., 2015). According to the Report of the World Health Organization (WHO)-China Joint Mission on COVID-19 (WHO, 2020), the case fatality rate of COVID-19 increases with age, while the rate among males is higher than that among females (4.7% and 2.8%, respectively). Since an effective vaccine and specific anti-viral drugs are still under development, passive immunization using the convalescent plasma (CP) of recovered COVID-19 donors may offer a suitable therapeutic strategy for severely ill patients in the meantime. So far, several studies have shown therapeutic efficacy of CP transfusion in treating COVID-19 cases. A pilot study first reported that transfusion of CP with neutralizing antibody titers above 1:640 was well tolerated and could potentially improve clinical outcomes through neutralizing viremia in severe COVID-19 cases (Chen et al., 2020). Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM are the most abundant and important antibodies in protecting the human body from viral attack (Arabi et al., 2015; Marano et al., 2016). Our study aimed to understand the aspects of plasma antibody titer levels in convalescent patients, as well as assessing the clinical characteristics of normal, severely ill, and critically ill patients, and thus provide a basis for guiding CP therapy. We also hoped to find indicators which could serve as a reference in predicting the progression of the disease.

The mental health of Chinese healthcare staff in non-epicenter of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 is a public health issue all over the world. It is an unprecedented challenge for society. Frontline medical staff are at high risk of mental health problems due to the overwhelming workload, worry of infection, and inadequate protective instruments. The study is to investigate the psychological status of medical staff in a women and children's hospital in non-epicenter of COVID-19 during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS: A total of 2,143 hospital medical staff participated in a cross-sectional online survey. Psychological response levels were assessed using the Psychological Questionnaire on Emergency Events in Public Health (PQEEPH), and mental health status was measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. RESULTS: Eligible responses were received from 1,890 (90.6%) women and 197 (9.4%) men. In total, 10.3% of respondents rated the psychological impact of the outbreak as moderate or severe, and 4% reported severe anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated that the majority of the medical staff are in great level of mental health. The study demonstrates that females, the 31-40 age group, and those who have been widowed experienced greater levels of anxiety and therefore require more support. Furthermore, the cognition of medical workers might affect their emotional reactions. Measures to decrease anxiety during emergency outbreaks should therefore include communication strategies.