T-fiber, a highland barley fiber-rich powder, alleviates hyperglycemia and improves kidney pathology in Db/db mice

The role of dietary fiber in highland barley in lowering blood lipids has been continuously studied in recent years. However, its effects on diabetes and diabetic nephropathy are rarely studied. Considering that highland barley bran is rich in dietary fiber, the effective use of dietary fiber in highland barley bran can not only alleviate the symptoms of diabetes but also improve the local economy. This article aimed to study the effects of highland barley fiber-rich powder (T-fiber) with a high-quality natural dietary fiber ratio (insoluble fiber/soluble fiber = 3 : 1) on the symptoms of hyperglycemia in a diabetic mouse model. Compared with the model group's blood glucose level (30.80 mmol/L), glucose tolerance (28.57 mmol/L), and glycosylated serum protein (2.43 mmol/L), T-fiber presented significant reductions in blood glucose (23.69 mmol/L), better glucose tolerance (21.32 mmol/L), and glycosylated serum protein (1.78 mmol/L) in the diabetic mouse model. Meanwhile, T-fiber effectively alleviated hepatocellular lesions. In addition, T-fiber not only improved kidney function by reducing the 24-hour urine output (8.25 ml), urine protein levels (11.51 mg), and serum creatinine (13.80 mol/L) but also alleviated renal pathology, including glomerular hypertrophy, mesangial expansion, and fibrosis. The above results proved the ability of T-fiber to reduce blood glucose and alleviate liver and renal function in diabetic mice. Altogether, T-fiber is a capable formula for utilizing highland barley bran dietary fiber, which alleviates diabetes symptoms and endows highland barley with promising value.

The Impact of Airport Physical Environment on Perceived Safety and Domestic Travel Intention of Chinese Passengers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Passenger Satisfaction

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has become an important new research topic, has exerted a huge impact on airports and the antecedents of passengers’ travel decisions following its outbreak. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the influences of four attributes of airport physical environment (facility functionality, facility aesthetics, layout accessibility, and cleanliness) on passengers’ perceived safety, satisfaction, and travel intention, as well as the mediating role of passenger satisfaction. We built a structural equation model to assume the relationship between these variables. A total of 398 domestic travelers were asked to fill out a survey in order to reveal their perceptions of airport physical environment, perceived safety, satisfaction, and travel intention. The results indicate that passengers with positive perceptions of the facility functionality, layout accessibility, and cleanliness of airports had a higher degree of satisfaction and might be more willing to engage in more air travel in the future. In particular, a clean airport environment significantly improved passengers’ perceived safety. Moreover, facility functionality, layout accessibility, cleanliness, and perceived safety all had an effect on travel intention through the mediating role of satisfaction. Overall, these findings offer suggestions for airport authorities aiming to revive demand for air travel. Discussions about airport physical environment improvements along with limitations and suggestions for future research are provided.

Neutralizing breadth of antibodies targeting diverse conserved epitopes between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 (preprint)

Antibody therapeutics for the treatment of COVID-19 has been highly successful while faces a challenge of the recent emergence of the Omicron variant which escapes the majority of existing SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs). Here, we successfully generated a panel of SARS-CoV-2/SARS-CoV cross-neutralizing antibodies by sequential immunization of the two pseudoviruses. Of which, nAbs X01, X10 and X17 showed broadly neutralizing breadths against most variants of concern (VOCs) and X17 was further identified as a Class 5 nAb with undiminished neutralization against the Omicron variant. Cryo-EM structures of three-antibody in complex with the spike proteins of prototyped SARS-CoV-2, Delta, Omicron and SARS-CoV defined three non-overlapping conserved epitopes on the receptor-binding domain (RBD). The triple antibody cocktail exhibited enhanced resistance to viral escape and effective protection against the infection of Beta variant in hamsters. Our finding will aid the development of both antibody therapeutics and broad vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants.

Management of clinical trials for anticancer drug during the corona virus disease 2019

Since December 2019, the number of corona virus disease 2019 cases has continued to increase. With the spread of the epidemic, clinical trials of anticancer drugs are facing great challenge. Cancer patients are suffering from the tumor itself, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy under special immune status, they are susceptible to the new coronavirus, and are more susceptible to infection with the coronavirus than the normal population. Therefore, this article will elaborate on the particularity of subjects in clinical trials of anticancer drugs in the context of the corona virus disease 2019, management of clinical trials, existing problems and countermeasures to expect optimizing processes and reasonable arrangements, and to ensure the safety of patients so that the smooth progress of the clinical trial is guaranteed.

Summary of the COVID-19 epidemic in China: When and how to launch an emergency response (preprint)

In December 2019, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first detected in Hubei Province and spread rapidly around the world. Summarizing the development of COVID-19 and assessing the effect of control measures are very critical to China and other countries. A heatmap was used to find the highest concentration of the COVID-19 outbreak and the areas with initial imported cases. A logistic growth curve model was employed to compare the development of COVID-19 before and after the emergency response took effect. We found that the number of confirmed cases peaked 9-14 days after the first detection of an imported case, but there was a peak lag in the province where the outbreak was concentrated. The average growth rate of cumulative confirmed cases decreased by approximately 50% after the emergency response began. Areas with frequent population migration have a high risk of outbreak. The emergency response taken by the Chinese government was able to effectively control the COVID-19 outbreak. Our study provides references for other countries and regions to control the COVID-19 outbreak.

The construction and visualization of the transmission networks for COVID-19: A potential solution for contact tracing and assessments of epidemics (preprint)

The WHO described coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic due to the speed and scale of its transmission. Without effective interventions, the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases would greatly increase the burden of clinical treatments. Identifying the transmission sources and pathways is of vital importance to block transmission and allocate limited public health resources. According to the relationships among cases, we constructed disease transmission network graphs for the COVID-19 epidemic through a visualization technique based on individual reports of epidemiological data. We proposed an analysis strategy of the transmission network with the epidemiological data in Tianjin and Chengdu. The transmission networks showed different transmission characteristics. In Tianjin, an imported case can produce an average of 2.9 secondary infections and ultimately produce up to 4 generations of infections, with a maximum of 6 cases generated before being identified. In Chengdu, 45 noninformative cases and 24 cases with vague exposure information made it difficult to provide accurate information by the transmission network. The proposed analysis framework of visualized transmission networks can trace the transmission source and contacts, assess the current situation of transmission and prevention, and provide evidence for the global response and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Isolating the 'Tech' from EdTech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China (preprint)

EdTech which includes online education, computer assisted learning (CAL), and remote instruction was expanding rapidly even before the current full-scale substitution for in-person learning at all levels of education around the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. Studies of CAL interventions have consistently found large positive effects, bolstering arguments for the widespread use of EdTech. However CAL programs, often held after school, provide not only computer-based instruction, but often additional non-technology based inputs such as more time on learning and instructional support by facilitators. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model to carefully explore the possible channels by which CAL programs might affect academic outcomes among schoolchildren. We isolate and test the technology-based effects of CAL and additional parameters from the theoretical model, by designing a novel multi-treatment field experiment with more than four thousand schoolchildren in rural China. Although we find evidence of positive overall CAL program effects on academic outcomes, when we isolate the technology-based effect of CAL (over and above traditional pencil-and-paper learning) we generally find small to null effects. Our empirical results suggest that, at times, the "Tech" in EdTech may have relatively small effects on academic outcomes, which has important implications for the continued, rapid expansion of technologies such as CAL throughout the world.

Isolating the "Tech" from Edtech: Experimental Evidence on Computer Assisted Learning in China (preprint)

EdTech which includes online education, computer assisted learning (CAL), and remote instruction was expanding rapidly even before the current full-scale substitution for in-person learning at all levels of education around the world because of the coronavirus pandemic. Studies of CAL interventions have consistently found large positive effects, bolstering arguments for the widespread use of EdTech. However CAL programs, often held after school, provide not only computer-based instruction, but often additional non-technology based inputs such as more time on learning and instructional support by facilitators. In this paper, we develop a theoretical model to carefully explore the possible channels by which CAL programs might affect academic outcomes among schoolchildren. We isolate and test the technology-based effects of CAL and additional parameters from the theoretical model, by designing a novel multi-treatment field experiment with more than four thousand schoolchildren in rural China. Although we find evidence of positive overall CAL program effects on academic outcomes, when we isolate the technology-based effect of CAL (over and above traditional pencil-and-paper learning) we generally find small to null effects. Our empirical results suggest that, at times, the "Tech" in EdTech may have relatively small effects on academic outcomes, which has important implications for the continued, rapid expansion of technologies such as CAL throughout the world.