Research on Quantitative Analysis of Multiple Factors Affecting COVID-19 Spread.

The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading all over the world. Quantitative analysis of the effects of various factors on the spread of the epidemic will help people better understand the transmission characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, thus providing a theoretical basis for governments to develop epidemic prevention and control strategies. This article uses public data sets from The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University (JHU CSSE), Air Quality Open Data Platform, China Meteorological Data Network, and WorldPop website to construct experimental data. The epidemic situation is predicted by Dual-link BiGRU Network, and the relationship between epidemic spread and various feature factors is quantitatively analyzed by the Gauss-Newton iteration Method. The study found that population density has the greatest positive correlation to the spread of the epidemic among the selected feature factors, followed by the number of landing flights. The number of newly diagnosed daily will increase by 1.08% for every 1% of the population density, the number of newly diagnosed daily will increase by 0.98% for every 1% of the number of landing flights. The results of this study show that the control of social distance and population movement has a high priority in epidemic prevention and control strategies, and it can play a very important role in controlling the spread of the epidemic.

Evidence of the Involvement of Spinal EZH2 in the Development of Bone Cancer Pain in Rats.

INTRODUCTION: Bone cancer pain (BCP) seriously affects the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer, but effective treatment methods are lacking. This study mainly investigates the role of EZH2 in a well-established BCP model induced by Walker 256 breast cancer cells in rats. METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats of the same age weighing approximately 160 g were selected for the experiment. The BCP model was established by injecting inactivated Walker 256 breast cancer cells into the tibia. von Frey filaments were used to measure the paw withdrawal threshold, and bone destruction in the rat was observed using x-ray. The spinal EZH2 and H3K27Tm levels were measured using Western blotting and RT-qPCR analysis. Intrathecal injection of an EZH2 inhibitor was performed to examine the role of EZH2 in trigeminal BCP. RESULTS: Experimental results showed that injecting Walker 256 breast cancer cells into the tibia induced bone cancer pain. Spinal EZH2 and H3K27Tm levels were significantly increased over time in BCP rats. An intrathecal injection of 3-deazaneplanocin A (DZNep), a selective EZH2 inhibitor, downregulated the expression of EZH2 and attenuate the BCP-induced mechanical allodynia state. CONCLUSION: Intrathecal injection of DZNep relieve bone cancer pain in rats. EZH2 expressed in spinal cord tissue may be involved in the process of bone cancer pain in rats.

TEMPO-Functionalized Nanoreactors from Bottlebrush Copolymers for the Selective Oxidation of Alcohols in Water.

Polymeric nanoreactors in water fabricated by the self-assembly of amphiphilic copolymers have attracted much attention due to their good catalytic performance without using organic solvents. However, the disassembly and instability of relevant nanostructures often compromise their potential applicability. Herein, the preparation of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-containing nanoreactors by the self-assembly of amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers has been demonstrated. First, a macromonomer having a norbornenyl polymerizable group was prepared by RAFT polymerization of hydrophobic and hydrophilic monomers. The macromonomer was further subjected to ring-opening metathesis polymerization to produce an amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymer. Further, TEMPO, as a catalyst, was introduced into the hydrophobic block through the activated ester strategy. Finally, TEMPO-functionalized polymeric nanoreactors were successfully obtained by self-assembly in water. The nanoreactors exhibited excellent catalytic activities in selective oxidation of alcohols in water. More importantly, the reaction kinetics showed that the turnover frequency is greatly increased compared to that of the similar nanoreactor prepared from liner copolymers under the same conditions. The outstanding catalytic activities of the nanoreactors from bottlebrush copolymers could be attributed to the more stable micellar structure using the substrate concentration effect. This work presents a new strategy to fabricate stable nanoreactors, paving the way for highly efficient organic reactions in aqueous solutions.

Spinal SET7/9 may contribute to the maintenance of cancer-induced bone pain in mice.

Cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) profoundly influences patients' quality of life. Exploring the mechanisms by which CIBP occurs is essential for developing efficacious therapies. Various studies have shown that proinflammatory factors were involved in CIBP. SET domain containing lysine methyltransferase 7/9 (SET7/9) may modulate the expression of NF-κB-dependent proinflammatory genes in vitro. However, whether SET7/9 may participate in the maintenance of CIBP remains unknown. In this study, NCTC 2472 cells were inoculated into the intramedullary space of the femur to establish a mouse model of CIBP. Upregulation of spinal SET7/9 expression was related to pain behaviours in tumour-inoculated mice. Intrathecal cyproheptadine (10 or 20 nmol) attenuated response to painful stimuli in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, there was a concomitant decrease in spinal SET7/9 and RANTES expression. The antinociceptive effects of cyproheptadine were abolished by pre-intrathecal administration of SET 7/9 (0.2 µg) for 30 minutes before intrathecal cyproheptadine (20 nmol) administration. These results indicated that spinal SET7/9 may contribute to the maintenance of CIBP in mice. Hence, targeting of spinal SET7/9 might be a useful alternative therapy for the treatment of CIBP.

Efficiently Enhancing Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity of Faceted TiO2 Nanocrystals by Synergistic Effects of Core-Shell Structured Au@CdS Nanoparticles and Their Selective Deposition.

Integrating wide bandgap semiconductor photocatalysts with visible-light-active inorganic nanoparticles (such as Au and CdS) as sensitizers is one of the most efficient methods to improve their photocatalytic activity in the visible light region. However, as for all such composite photocatalysts, a rational design and precise control over their architecture is often required to achieve optimal performance. Herein, a new TiO2-based ternary composite photocatalyst with superior visible light activity was designed and synthesized. In this composite photocatalyst, the location of the visible light sensitizers was engineered according to the intrinsic facet-induced effect of well-faceted TiO2 nanocrystals on the spatial separation of photogenerated carriers. Experimentally, core-shell structured Au@CdS nanoparticles acting as visible light sensitizers were selectively deposited onto photoreductive {101} facets of well-faceted anatase TiO2 nanocrystals through a two-step in situ photodeposition route. Because the combination of Au@CdS and specific {101} facets of TiO2 nanocrystals facilitates the transport of charges photogenerated under visible light irradiation, this well-designed ternary composite photocatalyst exhibited superior activity in visible-light-driven photocatalytic H2 evolution, as expected.