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Aim To investigate whether CTSB is involved in hypoxia-induced injury of cardiac microvascular endothelial cells.Methods A hypoxia-induced endothelial cell injury model was used.Cardiac microvascular endothelial cells were isolated from CTSB gene knockout mice.CTSB was overexpressed by adenovirus delivery system, and bafilomycin was used to block autophagy.ELISA was used to detect the release of inflammatory factors.Tunel staining was used to detect the number of cell apoptosis.caspase-3 kit was used to detect the activity of cell caspase-3.Cells were infected with LC3-GFP-mCherry double-labeled adenovirus todetect cell autophagy flow.Results CTSB gene knockout could significantly aggravate the inflammation and apoptosis of endothelial cells induced by hypoxia, and increased autophagy.Overexpression of CTSB reduced the inflammation and apoptosis of endothelial cells induced by hypoxia, and increased autophagy.But bafilomycin treatment could significantly offset the inhibitory effect of CTSB overexpression on cell inflammation and apoptosis and the protective effect on cell autophagy.Conclusions CTSB knockout aggravates inflammation and apoptosis induced by hypoxia in endothelial cells; while the overexpression of CTSB ameliorates endothelial cell injury induced by hypoxia.CTSB maintains normal autophagy degradation in endothelial cells.BAF blocks the protective effect of CTSB on endothelial cells by inhibiting autophagy degradation.
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Objective: To develop a rapid risk assessment tool for imported COVID-19 cases and provide reference evidences for prevention and control of COVID-19 at ports. Methods: The information about COVID-19 pandemic and control strategies of 12 concerned countries was collected during July to August 2021, and 12 indexes were selected to assess the importation risk of COVID-19 by risk matrix. Results: The risk for imported COVID-19 cases from 12 countries to China was high or extremely high, and the risk from Russia and the USA was highest. Conclusions: The developed rapid risk assessment tool based on the risk matrix method can be used to determine the risk level of countries for imported COVID-19 cases to China at ports, and the risk of imported COVID-19 was high at Beijing port in August 2021.
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Humans , Beijing , COVID-19/epidemiology , China/epidemiology , Pandemics , Risk AssessmentABSTRACT
Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce is used in traditional Chinese medicine and also consumed as a vegetable. In July of 2020, a root rot was observed on P. odoratum in a commercial field located in Benxi city (41º23'32" N, 124º04'27" E), Liaoning province of China. About 35% diseased plants in the field exhibited poor vigor, were stunted, and had yellow or brown leaves. Affected plants wilted and died. Roots of the plants were poorly developed, had brown lesions, and later rotted. To determine the causal agent, symptomatic roots with typical lesions were cut into small pieces, surface sterilized in 2% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for 3 min, rinsed three times in sterile water, and plated onto PDA medium. After 5 days of incubation at 26°C, whitish-pink to red colonies growing from the root samples were observed and transferred to carnation leaf agar (CLA). Ten single conidia isolates obtained from the colonies on CLA were incubated at 26°C for 10 days. Abundant macroconidia were formed in sporodochia on CLA. Macroconidia were falcate, slender, distinctively curved in the bottom half of the apical cell, had 3 to 5 septa, and 33.1 - 46.3 × 5.0 - 7.2 µm (n=50). Chlamydospores formed in chains or single, measuring 13.8 to 14.5 µm in diameter. Microconidia were not observed on CLA. Morphologically, the isolates were identified as Fusarium acuminatum (Leslie and Summerell, 2006). To confirm the species identity, the partial translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1-α) gene and rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of isolate YZ5-2 were amplified and sequenced (O'Donnell et al. 2015; White et al.1990). BLASTn analysis of both TEF sequence (MW423623) and ITS sequence (MW423626), revealed 100% (696/692 bp) and 99.64% (563/602 bp) sequence identity with F. acuminatum LC546967 and MF509746, respectively. Pathogenicity tests were carried out in the greenhouse. A conidial suspension (2 × 106 conidia per ml) of the isolate YZ5-2 was prepared from 7-day-old cultures grown in potato dextrose broth (PDB) o n a shaker (140 rpm) at 26±1°C. Five 12-liter pots were filled with sterilized field soil and each pot was drenched with 300ml of conidial suspension. Five control pots with sterilized field soil and 300 ml PDB were also included. Roots of 20 healthy P. odoratum plants were surface disinfected in 2% NaOCl for 3 min, and rinsed with sterilized water. Prior to planting, 2-3 pinholes (1.5× 1.0 mm) were made using a toothpick on the root surface of each plant, and they were then planted in each pot (2 plants per pot). All ten pots were maintained in a greenhouse at 22-26°C for 40 days. Plants grown in the pots inoculated with the conidial suspension were stunted, had yellowed leaves and were wilted. The roots of the affected plants were rotted. Disease symptoms were similar to those observed in field. Non-inoculated control plants had no symptoms. F. acuminatum was reisolated from inoculated plants and was identical to the original isolate. The experiment was repeated twice with similar results. To our knowledge, this is the first report of root rot of P. odoratum caused by F. acuminatum in China. The disease has since been observed on P. odoratum in fields in Liaoyang and Qingyuan city in Liaoning Province of China, and it has become an important threat to P. odoratum production in China.
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Calcium leaching is a degradation progress inside hardened cement composites, where Ca2+ ions in cement pore solution can migrate into the aggressive solution. In this work, calcium leaching of graphene oxide (GO) reinforced cement composites was effectively characterized by combined techniques of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Inhibiting mechanism of GO on calcium leaching of the composites was also examined. The obtained results show that the diameter of the semi-circle of the Nyquist curves of leached samples with GO addition decreased less than that of controlled samples. After leaching for 35 days, loss rate of model impedance RCCP of leached samples with 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 wt.% GO addition was 94.85%, 84.07%, 79.66%, 75.34%, and 68.75%, respectively. Therefore, GO addition can significantly mitigate calcium leaching of cement composites, since it can absorb Ca2+ ions in cement pore solution, as well as improve the microstructure of the composites. In addition, coupling leaching depth and compressive strength loss were accurately predicted by using the impedance RCCP.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the therapeutic effects of microsurgical one-stage repair of hand flexor tendon injuries.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Among 97 patients with (182 flexor tendons) hand injuries, 59 patients were male and 38 patients were female, ranging in age from 6 to 65 years, with an average of 32 years. Twenty-two patients got injuries by glasses, 32 patients got injuries by knife, 29 patients got injuries by saw, and 14 patients got crush injuries. The tendon injuries in this study consisted of 12 cases of I zone, 35 cases of II zone, 28 cases of III zone, 8 cases of IV zone and 14 cases of V zone. Sixty-eight patients complicated with injuries of blood vessel and nerve, and 53 patients also had fingers fractures. All the patients were treated with modified Kessler method to repair tendon at one-stage, and were given early rehabilitation step by step.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After the treatment, 97 patients were followed up from 3 to 24 months. According to TAM standard, 48 patients got an excellent result, 39 good, 8 fair and 2 bad.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Microsurgical one-stage tendon repair should be applied. Early rehabilitation and microsurgery repair are important for preventing tendon adhesion.</p>
