Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a CpG/Alum adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 recombinant protein vaccine (ZR202-CoV) in healthy adults: Preliminary report of a phase 1, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation trial.

This was a phase 1 dose-escalation study of ZR202-CoV, a recombinant protein vaccine candidate containing a pre-fusion format of the spike (S)-protein (S-trimer) combined with the dual-adjuvant system of Alum/CpG. A total of 230 participants were screened and 72 healthy adults aged 18-59 years were enrolled and randomized to receive two doses at a 28-day interval of three different ZR202-CoV formulations or normal saline. We assessed the safety for 28 days after each vaccination and collected blood samples for immunogenicity evaluation. All formulations of ZR202-CoV were well-tolerated, with no observed solicited adverse events ≥ Grade 3 within 7 days after vaccination. No unsolicited adverse events ≥ Grade 3, or serious adverse events related to vaccination occurred as determined by the investigator. After the first dose, detectable immune responses were observed in all subjects. All subjects that received ZR202-CoV seroconverted at 14 days after the second dose by S-binding IgG antibody, pseudovirus and live-virus based neutralizing antibody assays. S-binding response (GMCs: 2708.7 ~ 4050.0 BAU/mL) and neutralizing activity by pseudovirus (GMCs: 363.1 ~ 627.0 IU/mL) and live virus SARS-CoV-2 (GMT: 101.7 ~ 175.0) peaked at 14 days after the second dose of ZR202-CoV. The magnitudes of immune responses compared favorably with COVID-19 vaccines with reported protective efficacy.

Priorities for alleviating menopausal symptoms after cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine treatment priorities in women cancer patients attending a dedicated Menopausal Symptoms After Cancer service. METHODS: Cancer type and stage were abstracted from medical records. Women ranked up to three symptoms as treatment priorities from the list "hot flushes/night sweats," "mood changes," "vaginal dryness or soreness," "sleep disturbances," "feeling tired or worn out (fatigue)," "sexual problems and/or pain with intercourse," "joint pain," and "something else" with free-text response. For each prioritized symptom, patients completed standardized patient-reported outcome measures to determine symptom severity and impact. RESULTS: Of 189 patients, most had breast cancer (48.7%, n = 92), followed by hematological (25.8%, n = 49), gynecological (18.0%, n = 34), or colorectal (2.6%, n = 5). The highest (first-ranked) treatment priority was vasomotor symptoms (33.9%, n = 64), followed by fatigue (18.0%, n = 34), vaginal dryness/soreness (9.5%, n = 18), and sexual problems/pain with intercourse (9.5%, n = 18). Symptoms most often selected in the top three ("prioritized") were fatigue (57.7%, n = 109), vasomotor symptoms (57.1%, n = 108), and sleep disturbance (49.2%, n = 93). In patients who prioritized vasomotor symptoms, medians on the "problem," "distress," and "interference" dimensions of the Hot Flash Related Daily Interference Scale were, respectively, 6.0 (interquartile range [IQR], 5.0-8.0), 5.5 (IQR, 3.0-8.0), and 5.0 (IQR, 3.-7.0), indicating moderate severity. In patients who prioritized fatigue, the median Fatigue Scale score was 28 (IQR, 19-36), 37% worse than general population. CONCLUSIONS: Vasomotor symptoms, fatigue, sexual problems, and vaginal dryness/soreness were the leading priorities for treatment. Understanding symptom severity and patient priorities will inform better care for this growing population.

Seed dormancy-life form profile for 358 species from the Xishuangbanna seasonal tropical rainforest, Yunnan Province, China compared to world database.

Seed dormancy profiles are available for the major vegetation regions/types on earth. These were constructed using a composite of data from locations within each region. Furthermore, the proportion of species with nondormant (ND) seeds and the five classes of dormancy is available for each life form in each region. Using these data, we asked: will the results be the same if many species from a specific area as opposed to data compiled from many locationsare considered? Germination was tested for fresh seeds of 358 species in 95 families from the Xishuangbanna seasonal tropical rainforest (XSTRF): 177 trees, 66 shrubs, 57 vines and 58 herbs. Seeds of 12.3% of the species were ND, and 0.3, 14.8, 60.6, 12.0 and 0% of the species had morphological (MD), morphophysiological (MPD), physiological (PD), physical (PY), and combinational (PY + PD) dormancy, respectively. PD was more important than ND in all life forms, PY was highest in shrubs, MD was not important in any life form and MPD was most common for herb and vines. The seed dormancy profile for XSTRF differs considerably from the composite profile for this vegetation type worldwide, most obviously in ND being much lower and PD much higher in XSTRF.

Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and docking study of 4-isochromanone hybrids bearing N-benzyl pyridinium moiety as dual binding site acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (part II).

A series of novel 4-isochromanone compounds bearing N-benzyl pyridinium moiety were designed and synthesized as acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. The biological evaluation showed that most of the target compounds exhibited potent inhibitory activities against AChE. Among them, compound 1q possessed the strongest anti-AChE activity with an IC50 value of 0.15 nm and high AChE/BuChE selectivity (SI > 5,000). Moreover, compound 1q had low toxicity in normal nerve cells and was relatively stable in rat plasma. Together, the current finding may provide a new approach for the discovery of novel anti-Alzheimer's disease agents.

Reactive oxygen species induced by cold stratification promote germination of Hedysarum scoparium seeds.

Seed germination is comprehensively regulated by multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are relatively new among these factors. However, the role and underlying mechanisms of ROS in germination regulation remain largely unknown. In this study, we initially found that cold stratification could promote germination and respiration of Hedysarum scoparium seeds, especially at low temperature. We then noted that a ROS environment change induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or methylviologen (MV) could similarly promote seed germination. On the other hand, the ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) suppressed germination of cold-stratified H. scoparium seeds, indicating a stimulatory role of ROS upon seed germination. An increased accumulation of O2- was detected in embryonic axes of cold-stratified seeds, and stratification-induced ROS generation as well as progressive accumulation of ROS during germination was further confirmed at the cellular level by confocal microscopy. Moreover, protein carbonylation in cold-stratified seeds was enhanced during germination, which was reversed by NAC treatment. Finally, the relationship between ROS and abscisic acid (ABA) or gibberellin (GA) in germination regulation was investigated. ABA treatment significantly inhibited germination and reduced the H2O2 content in both cold-stratified and non-cold-stratified seeds. Furthermore, we found that cold stratification mediates the down-regulation of the ABA content and increase of GA, suggesting an interaction between ROS and ABA/GA. These results in H. scoparium shed new light on the positive role of ROS and their cross-talk between plant hormones in seed germination.

Identification of desiccation tolerance transcripts potentially involved in rape (Brassica napus L.) seeds development and germination.

To investigate regulatory processes and protective mechanisms leading to desiccation tolerance (DT) in seeds, cDNA amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) in conjunction with 128 primer combinations was used to detect differential gene expression in rape seeds in response to DT during seed development and germination. We obtained approximately 8000 transcript-derived fragments (TDFs), of which 394 TDFs with differential expression patterns ("sustained expression", "up-regulated", "couple with seed DT", and "down-regulated") were excised from gels and re-amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). After sequencing and comparison with the National Center for Biotechnology Information database, 176 TDFs presented significant similarity with known genes that could be classified into the following categories: metabolism and energy, stress resistance and defense, storage, signal transduction, and other functional categories. Using semiquantitative reverse-transcription PCR and real-time PCR approaches, the significance of the differences was further confirmed in fresh seeds and dehydrated seeds. The genes that encode superoxide dismutase, peroxiredoxin, caleosin, oleosin S3, steroleosin, late embryogenesis abundant protein, glutathione reductase, ß-glucosidase, S23 transcriptional repressor, and some heat-shock proteins could be associated with DT. The results of this study will aid in the identification of candidate genes for future experiments that seek to understand seed DT.

[Research advances in population dynamics of Orchidaceae].

In the study of population dynamics of Orchidaceae, demographic analysis can make us better understand the spatiotemporal variation of plant individuals, the core of the population dynamics study. Nevertheless, many orchid species have an epiphytic or lithophytic habit, which predisposes them to a discrete or patchy distribution. In this case, metapopulation study is a good method to judge the protective scale of the population by analyzing the extent of gene flow among patches. In addition, long-term observation is needed to obtain reliable information on the life history and population dynamics of Orchidaceae, and to understand the relationships between the spatiotemporal variation and functioning of orchid population in certain environmental conditions. As for the short-term study, it's essential for a better understanding of the relationships between the structurally dependent plants and the communities in which they are fund. This paper reviewed the research advances in the population dynamics of Orchidaceae from the viewpoints of the population ecology and ecological characteristics of Orchidaceae.