Privacy and security concerns with passively collected location data for digital contact tracing among U.S. college students.

People continue to use technology in new ways, and how governments harness digital information should consider privacy and security concerns. During COVID19, numerous countries deployed digital contact tracing that collect location data from user's smartphones. However, these apps had low adoption rates and faced opposition. We launched an interdisciplinary study to evaluate smartphone location data concerns among college students in the US. Using interviews and a large survey, we find that college students have higher concerns regarding privacy, and place greater trust in local government with their location data. We discuss policy recommendations for implementing improved contact tracing efforts.

Research on the integral forming process of thin walled and thick mouth seamless gas cylinders.

There is a considerable difference in wall thickness between the mouth and the cavity of thin-walled and thick-mouthed seamless gas cylinders, and the existing manufacturing processes are unable to effectively meet product requirements. To overcome such issue, a step-by-step boring-necking-spinning solution for gas cylinders was proposed, in which sufficient wall thickness is reserved for the mouth area of the cylinder blank, followed by necking-spinning to realize the overall forming of thin-walled, thick-mouthed seamless gas cylinders. The stress-strain distribution and geometric dimensional changes of gas cylinders during the spinning process were investigated by means of finite element simulation, and the effects of different process parameters on the stress and wall thickness of the bottle mouth were analyzed. Further, multi-objective optimization of the response surface model was performed using the NSGA-II algorithm to derive a set of optimal process parameters. Finally, the correctness of the simulation and optimization results was verified experimentally, and the expected geometry and optimal strain state of the gas cylinder were obtained. The newly developed processing solution represents a groundbreaking advancement in the manufacturing of thin-walled and thick-mouthed gas cylinders.

Exploring influential factors of CO2 emissions in China's cities using machine learning techniques.

The precise and exhaustive discernment of factors influencing CO2 emissions underpins the advancement toward sustainable, low-carbon development. Although numerous studies have probed the correlation between predetermined proxy variables and carbon emissions, methodological constraints have often led to an inability to effectively discern carbon emission determinants among numerous potential variables or unravel complex, non-linear relationships, and interaction effects. To redress these research gaps, this research utilized machine learning models to correlate urban CO2 emissions with socioeconomic indicators. The model outputs were then visualized and interpreted using explainable methods. The findings indicated that the model successfully identified a comprehensive array of dominant influences on urban CO2 emissions, principally associated with local fiscal policies, land use, energy consumption, industrial development, and urban transportation. The findings further revealed a complex non-linear association between these factors and urban CO2 emissions; however, the majority of these variables displayed a prevalent propensity to intensify carbon emissions in correspondence with an increase in sample value. Additionally, these factors exhibited a complex interactive influence on urban CO2 emissions, with distinct pairings producing a suppressive effect exclusively at specific combination of sample values. Consequently, this research posited that a robust correlation between urban socioeconomic development and CO2 emissions in China remains to be established. Given the varied impacts of these influencing factors across different cities, a differentiated approach to development should be adopted when charting low-carbon trajectories.

Antimicrobial indole alkaloids from Tabernaemontana corymbosa.

Four unreported monoterpene indole alkaloids, tabernaecorymines B-E (1-4), together with twenty-one known indole alkaloids (5-25) were obtained from the stem bark of Tabernaemontana corymbosa. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopy, quantum chemical calculations, DP4+ probability analyses and Mo2(OAc)4-induced electronic circular dichroism experiment. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of these compounds were evaluated and some of them showed significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus,Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Candida albicans.

Unexpected Performance Improvements of Nitrogen Dioxide and Ozone Sensors by Including Carbon Monoxide Sensor Signal.

Low-cost air quality (LCAQ) sensors are increasingly being used for community air quality monitoring. However, data collected by low-cost sensors contain significant noise, and proper calibration of these sensors remains a widely discussed, but not yet fully addressed, area of concern. In this study, several LCAQ sensors measuring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) were deployed in six cities in the United States (Atlanta, GA; New York City, NY; Sacramento, CA; Riverside, CA; Portland, OR; Phoenix, AZ) to evaluate the impacts of different climatic and geographical conditions on their performance and calibration. Three calibration methods were applied, including regression via linear and polynomial models and random forest methods. When signals from carbon monoxide (CO) sensors were included in the calibration models for NO2 and O3 sensors, model performance generally increased, with pronounced improvements in selected cities such as Riverside and New York City. Such improvements may be due to (1) temporal co-variation between concentrations of CO and NO2 and/or between CO and O3; (2) different performance levels of low-cost CO, NO2, and O3 sensors; and (3) different impacts of environmental conditions on sensor performance. The results showed an innovative approach for improving the calibration of NO2 and O3 sensors by including CO sensor signals into the calibration models. Community users of LCAQ sensors may be able to apply these findings further to enhance the data quality of their deployed NO2 and O3 monitors.

Structural Elucidation and Total Synthesis for the Pair of Unprecedented Polypyridines with Anti-AChE and HIV-1 Protease Activities from Alangium chinense.

Unlike reported pyridine hybrids, 2S (1a) and 2R-alanginenmine A (1b) from Alangium chinense featuring an unprecedented piperidine-bridged polypyridine skeleton represented a pair of alkaloid subtypes with a unique multiple pyridine scaffold. Enlightened by the rare structural characteristics and possible biosynthetic pathway, (±)-alanginenmine A (1) have been achieved in ideal yield by gram-class total synthesis with four steps. In addition, both compounds 1a and 1b exhibited anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and HIV-1 protease activities in the biological activity evaluation. Further, molecular docking was investigated for the mechanism of action between the isolated compounds and HIV-1 protease. The stronger Coulomb interactions and van der Waals interaction, as well as the hydrogen bond interactions of 1a, might be the main cause for its better anti-HIV-1 protease activity than 1b. This work provided a comprehensive research including natural product discovery, bioactivity evaluation, and total synthesis for the new type of leading anti-HIV-1 protease.

Depression and anxiety of medical students at Kunming Medical University during COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey.

An isolation strategy was used to control the transmission and rapid spread of COVID-19 in Yunnan. As a result, students were supposed to stay at home and disrupted their outside activities. It led to a detrimental influence on students' mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of depression and anxiety among medical students and to provide ideas for the prevention of depression and anxiety in medical students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2,116 medical students at Kunming Medical University from July 8 to July 16, 2020. Participants' demographic and living conditions were collected. Depression and anxiety were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 and General Anxiety Disorder-7, respectively. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to detect risk factors associated with depression and anxiety. The prevalence rates of depression and anxiety among medical students were 52.5 and 29.6%, respectively. Depression was more likely to be caused by low grades, lack of physical exercise, drug use, irregular diet, extensive screen time on mobile phones, being greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and inadaptability to offline courses. Anxiety was more likely to be caused by lack of physical exercise, drug use, irregular diet, and inadaptability to offline courses. Depression and anxiety are highly comorbid. Our study showed predictive factors for depression and anxiety and identified a major mental health burden on medical students during the COVID-19 outbreak. More targeted measures should be taken to improve the mental state of students to reduce the incidence of depression and anxiety.

The influence of sports on proactive personality and academic achievement of college students: The role of self-efficacy.

Objective: To explore the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between the proactive personality and academic performance of college students in different sports groups. Methods: A questionnaire survey is used to study 552 college students. The research tools include the proactive personality scale, the self-efficacy scale table (general, academic, and self-regulation efficacy scale tables), and the academic performance self-report scale table. This research employs SPSS 11.0 statistical software to carry out correlation analysis, regression analysis, and t-tests on the data collected, while the test of mediating effect is carried out by AMOS 22.0. Results: (1) The degree of self-efficacy and academic performance of college students participating in physical activities is significantly greater than that of the non-sports group; (2) the proactive personality level of the sports group is significantly higher than the non-sports group in the dimension of "conscientiousness"; (3) a confirmatory factor analysis of the mediating effect hypothesis model, using the structural equation model, found that self-efficacy plays a full mediating role in the relationship between proactive personality and academic performance; the direct effect of self-efficacy on the proactive personality and academic performance of college students in different sports groups is not significant. Conclusion: College students involved in sports exercise have higher scores on some items about proactive personality than non-sports groups; girls' self-efficacy level is higher than that of boys; self-efficacy plays a full mediating role in the relationship between proactive personality and academic performance; self-efficacy had no significant effect on proactive personality and gender in different sports groups.

11,12-Diacetyl-carnosol Protects SH-SY5Y Cells from Hydrogen Peroxide Damage through the Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway.

Background: Oxidative stress-induced neurotoxicity plays a key role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). 11,12-Diacetyl-carnosol (NO.20), an acetylated derivative of carnosol extracted from rosemary, displays a high antioxidative effect in vitro. Purpose: We investigated the neuroprotective effect of NO.20 on H2O2-induced neurotoxicity in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and its possible mechanism. Results: We found that NO.20 pretreatment (1 µM for 1 h) had cytoprotective effects and weakened H2O2-induced damage in SH-SY5Y cells by reducing viability loss, apoptotic rate, and reactive oxygen species production. In addition, NO.20 inhibited H2O2-induced mitochondrial dysfunctions: it alleviated mitochondrial membrane potential loss and cytochrome c release, decreased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and reduced caspase-3 expression. NO.20 also downregulated malondialdehyde and upregulated glutathione. Furthermore, NO.20 pretreatment caused the nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), increasing heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in SH-SY5Y cells. Notably, we found that silencing Nrf2 using small interfering RNA (siRNA) suppressed the NO.20-induced HO-1 expression and abolished the neuroprotective effect of NO.20. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that NO.20 protects SH-SY5Y cells from H2O2-induced neurotoxicity by activating the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Thus, the neuroprotective and antioxidative stress effects of NO.20 may make it a promising neuroprotective compound for AD treatment.

Monitoring vs. modeled exposure data in time-series studies of ambient air pollution and acute health outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Population-based short-term air pollution health studies often have limited spatiotemporally representative exposure data, leading to concerns of exposure measurement error. OBJECTIVE: To compare the use of monitoring and modeled exposure metrics in time-series analyses of air pollution and cardiorespiratory emergency department (ED) visits. METHODS: We obtained daily counts of ED visits for Atlanta, GA during 2009-2013. We leveraged daily ZIP code level concentration estimates for eight pollutants from nine exposure metrics. Metrics included central monitor (CM), monitor-based (inverse distance weighting, kriging), model-based [community multiscale air quality (CMAQ), land use regression (LUR)], and satellite-based measures. We used Poisson models to estimate air pollution health associations using the different exposure metrics. The approach involved: (1) assessing CM-based associations, (2) determining if non-CM metrics can reproduce CM-based associations, and (3) identifying potential value added of incorporating full spatiotemporal information provided by non-CM metrics. RESULTS: Using CM exposures, we observed associations between cardiovascular ED visits and carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter, elemental and organic carbon, and between respiratory ED visits and ozone. Non-CM metrics were largely able to reproduce CM-based associations, although some unexpected results using CMAQ- and LUR-based metrics reduced confidence in these data for some spatiotemporally-variable pollutants. Associations with nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide were only detected, or were stronger, when using metrics that incorporate all available monitoring data (i.e., inverse distance weighting and kriging). SIGNIFICANCE: The use of routinely-collected ambient monitoring data for exposure assignment in time-series studies of large metropolitan areas is a sound approach, particularly when data from multiple monitors are available. More sophisticated approaches derived from CMAQ, LUR, or satellites may add value when monitoring data are inadequate and if paired with thorough data characterization. These results are useful for interpretation of existing literature and for improving exposure assessment in future studies. IMPACT STATEMENT: This study compared and interpreted the use of monitoring and modeled exposure metrics in a daily time-series analysis of air pollution and cardiorespiratory emergency department visits. The results suggest that the use of routinely-collected ambient monitoring data in population-based short-term air pollution and health studies is a sound approach for exposure assignment in large metropolitan regions. CMAQ-, LUR-, and satellite-based metrics may allow for health effects estimation when monitoring data are sparse, if paired with thorough data characterization. These results are useful for interpretation of existing health effects literature and for improving exposure assessment in future air pollution epidemiology studies.

Monoterpene indole N-oxide alkaloids from Tabernaemontana corymbosa and their antimicrobial activity.

Tabernaemontana corymbosa is a traditional folk medicine. In our research, six monoterpene indole N-oxide alkaloids and their parent alkaloids were obtained from the stem bark of T. corymbosa, including seven new alkaloids (1-7) and five known alkaloids (8-12). Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopy, quantum chemical calculations, and DP4+ probability analyses. The antimicrobial activity of the obtained compounds was evaluated, among which alkaloids 4, 8, 12 showed significant antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with an MIC value of 6.25 µg/mL, while alkaloids 11, 12 showed moderate antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis with an MIC value of 25 µg/mL.

Tabernaecorymine A, an 18-normonoterpenoid indole alkaloid with antibacterial activity from Tabernaemontana corymbosa.

Tabernaecorymine A, an 18-normonoterpenoid indole alkaloid with conjugated (E)-3-aminoacrylaldehyde fragment was obtained from the stem bark of Tabernaemontana corymbosa. Its structure was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic data analyses, and further verified by ACD/structure elucidator, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) analyses and density functional theory (DFT) chemical shift predictions. The compound exhibited significant antibacterial bioactivity against Streptococcus dysgalactiae with an MIC value of 3.12 µg/mL, which is better than the plant drug berberine.

New Monoterpenoid Indoles with Osteoclast Activities from Gelsemium elegans.

The well-known toxic medicine Gelsemium elegans is widely and historically used to treat bone fracture and skin ulcers by the folk people of China. Two new monoterpenoid indole alkaloids, gelselegandines D and E, together with the known analogue gelegamine A were isolated from G. elegans. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic techniques and quantum chemical calculations. All isolated compounds were tested for the effects on RANKL-induced osteoclast formation. Interestingly, gelselegandine E and gelegamine A, respectively, showed significant promoting and inhibitory activities on osteoclastogenesis, while gelselegandine D had no activity under the same concentration. This work suggested the different configurations for the carbons near the C-19/20 oxygen rings of the isolated compounds may be the key active groups on osteoclast formation and provided the evidence for the rationality as the traditional treatment for bone-related diseases of G. elegans.

The combination of living Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and Streptococcus improves social ranking and relieves anxiety-like behaviors in competitive mice in a social dominance tube test.

INTRODUCTION: Social rank has a profound influence on the behavior and health of humans and animals. METHODS: To explore the effect of a combination of living Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus (CLB) on anxiety- and depression-like behaviors and social rank, mice were subjected to a social dominance tube test (SDTT). The behaviors, rank, gut microbiota, and expression of inflammatory cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus were measured. RESULTS: The results indicated that CLB improved the SDTT ranking score of the losers and alleviated anxiety-like behaviors of the winners. CLB decreased the level of Desulfovibrio and augmented the level of Mollicutes in the feces, increased BDNF content, and reduced the level of tumor necrosis factor-α in the hippocampus. CONCLUSION: These findings indicated that CLB may be used for the treatment of anxiety and improvement of the rank score via regulation of gut microbiota and anti-inflammatory effects.

Developing air pollution concentration fields for health studies using multiple methods: Cross-comparison and evaluation.

Past air pollution epidemiological studies have used a wide range of methods to develop concentration fields for health analyses. The fields developed differ considerably among these methods. The reasons for these differences and comparisons of their strengths, as well as the limitations for estimating exposures, remains under-investigated. Here, we applied nine methods to develop fields of eight pollutants (carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and three speciated PM2.5 constituents including elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and sulfate (SO4)) for the metropolitan Atlanta region for five years. The nine methods are Central Monitor (CM), Site Average (SA), Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), Kriging (KRIG), Land Use Regression (LUR), satellite Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), CMAQ model, CMAQ with kriging adjustment (CMAQ-KRIG), and CMAQ based data fusion (CMAQ-DF). Additionally, we applied an increasingly popular method, Random Forest (RF), and compared its results for NO2 and PM2.5 with other methods. For statistical evaluation, we focused our discussion on the temporal coefficient of determination, although other metrics are also calculated. Raw output from the CMAQ model contains modeling biases and errors, which are partially mitigated by fusing observational data in the CMAQ-KRIG and CMAQ-DF methods. Based on analyses that simulated model responses to more limited input data, the RF model is more robust and outperforms LUR for PM2.5. These results suggest RF may have potential in air pollution health studies, especially when limited measurement data are available. The RF method has several important weaknesses, including a relatively poor performance for NO2, diagnostic challenges, and computational intensiveness. The results of this study will help to improve our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods for estimating air pollutant exposures in epidemiological studies.

Alstoscholarisine K, an Antimicrobial Indole from Gall-Induced Leaves of Alstonia scholaris.

Alstoscholarisine K, an indole alkaloid with eight chiral carbons and featuring a novel 6/5/6/6/6/6/6/5 octacyclic architecture, was found to be specific to the gall-infected leaves of Alstonia scholaris. Its structure was elucidated by spectroscopy, computational analysis, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The unusual highly fused cage-like pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrimidine structure with an additional -C4N unit is possibly derived from a combination of monoterpenoid indole and polyamine pathways. The fascinating compound exhibited significant antibacterial bioactivities by targeting cell membranes.

Synthesis of pterodontic acid derivatives and the study of their anti-influenza A virus (H1N1) activity.

Laggera pterodonta (DC.) Benth, a folk herb widely distributes in southwest China, especially in Yunnan Province, demonstrates anti-pathogenic microorganisms, anti-inflammatory, inhibition of Helicobacter pylori activities in vitro et al. Interestingly, previous studies have shown that pterodontic acid (1), a eudesmane-type sesquiterpene isolated from L. pterodonta (DC.), displays excellent selective antiviral activity to H1N1 subtype of influenza A virus. At the same time, our group also discovered that the antiviral activity of 1 was relatively close to that activity of post-marketed ribavirin. Therefore, we consider that the synthesis of pterodontic acid (1) derivatives and evaluation of their anti-influenza A virus (H1N1) activities is of potential clinical significance. In this manuscript, a series of pterodontic acid derivatives were prepared and demonstrated significantly improved anti-influenza A virus (H1N1) activities, providing more opportunities for the treatment of respiratory viral diseases.

New oxindole alkaloids with selective osteoclast inhibitory activity from Gelsemium elegans.

A new alkaloid 14-hydroxygelseziridine (1), along with four known oxindoles (2-5), was isolated and characterized from the well-known toxic medicine Gelsemium elegans. Their structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic techniques and quantum chemistry calculations. Structurally, new compound 1 has a three membered oxygen ring at N-4/C-20. All compounds were tested for osteoclast (MOC-1) inhibitory activity in vitro. Compound 2 exhibited the selective osteoclast inhibitory activity. Flow cytometry revealed that the apoptosis of osteoclasts induced by 2. Furthermore, the PCR bioassay suggested that compound 2 may activate the apoptotic pathway of osteoclasts by reducing the expression of IL-6 and c-Jun, and increasing caspase 9. This work provided the evidence for the rationality as the traditional treatment for bone related diseases of G. elegans, and shed a new light on its further research.

Depressive Symptoms, Sleep Quality and Diet During the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Epidemic in China: A Survey of Medical Students.

The psychological condition of medical students may be influenced by the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This study investigated the prevalence and influencing factors of depressive symptoms, poor sleep quality and poor diet in students at Kunming Medical University during the early part of the COVID-19 outbreak. A cross-sectional study was used from a questionnaire survey in February 2020. Of a total of 1,026 study participants, the prevalence of depressive symptoms, poor sleep quality, and poor diet was, respectively, 22.4, 33.2, and 17.4%. Male students and students with a low degree of focus on COVID-19 had a high risk of depressive symptoms. A high percentage of females and students in the fifth grade, as well as students with high levels of concern about the negative impact of COVID-19 on their education or employment, comprised those with poor sleep quality. Students in the fifth grade and students with high levels of concern about the negative impact of COVID-19 on their education or employment were more likely to report poor diet. This study suggests the importance of monitoring medical students' depressive state during the COVID-19 outbreak, and universities are encouraged to institute policies and programs to provide educational counseling and psychological support to help students to cope with these problems.