Shared diagnostic genes and potential mechanisms between COVID-19 and sepsis revealed by bioinformatics analysis

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,triggered by the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),has ravaged the globe,resulting in a staggering loss of life and wreaking havoc on the worldwide economy.[1,2]Sepsis is a cascade of abnormal responses provoked by infection,leading to a critical deterioration in organ function that poses a life-threatening risk.[3]However,it is unclear from published reports whether COVID-19 and sepsis are commonly aff ected by molecular factors.Therefore,we performed a bioinformatics analysis to uncover shared diagnostic genes and potential mechanisms between COVID-19 and sepsis.

A Novel Single-Phase Five-Level Transformer-less Photovoltaic (PV) Inverter

Multilevel inverters are preferred solutions for photovoltaic(PV)applications because of lower total harmonic distortion(THD),lower switching stress and lower electromagnetic interference(EMI).In order to reduce the leakage current in the single-phase low-power PV inverters,a five-level transformer-less inverter is proposed in this paper.A total of eleven switches are required,while six of them only withstand a quarter of the dc-bus voltage,so the costs for them are low.Another four switches are turned on or off at the power line cycle,the switching losses for them are ignored.In addition,the flying-capacitors(FCs)voltages are only a quarter of the dc-bus voltage,and they are balanced at the switching frequency,which further reduces the system investment.The experimental results based on a 1 kW prototype show that the proposed modulation strategy can balance the FCs voltages at Vdc/4 very well.And the leakage current can be reduced to about 27 mA under both active and reactive operations,which satisfies the VDE 0126-1-1 standard.

Changes in foliar nitrogen resorption of Phyllostachys edulis with culm development

Leaf nitrogen resorption is very important to Phyllostachys edulis development because the withdrawn nitrogen can help newly emerging and growing culms.However, few studies have focused on the ontogenetic changes in leaf nitrogen resorption of P. edulis. Here, we examined the variability in mature leaf nitrogen concentrations(Nm), nitrogen resorption efficiency(NRE) and proficiency(NRP or Ns) and leaf-level nitrogen use efficiency(NUE) of the current-, 3 rd-and 5 th-year culms in P.edulis stands under extensive management. Analyses of variance and correlation indicated that patterns of Nm,NRP, NRE and NUE were markedly affected by culm age and leaf nitrogen status. Nm, Nsand NRE were significant higher in younger(current-year) culms with 1-year lifespan leaves, while NUE was markedly higher in older(3 rd-or 5 th-year) culms with 2-year lifespan leaves. Significant linear correlations between Nmand NRP, NRE and NUE,Nmand NUE, Nsand NRE were found for each culm age,and Nmwas significantly positively correlated to NRE for all culms pooled. Higher proficiency in older culms led to higher NUE and lower NRE, these relationships can be modulated by Nm, which in turn, is restrained by leaf N availability and acquisition. Our results revealed that at the intraspecific level, P. edulis can adjust its leaf NRE, NRP,and leaf-level NUE in concert with culm development.Understanding nitrogen resorption characteristics and NUE of P. edulis can help decision-makers design appropriate deforestation strategies and achieve precise N fertilization for sustainable bamboo forest management.

An electromagnetic wave attenuation superposition structure for thin-layer plasma

This work proposes a new plasma super-phase gradient metasurfaces(PS-PGMs)structure,owing to the limitations of the thin-layer plasma for electromagnetic wave attenuation.Based on the cross-shaped surface unit configuration,we have designed the X-band absorbing structure through the dispersion control method.By setting up the Drude dispersion model in the computer simulation technology,the designed phase gradient metasurfaces structure is superposed over the plasma,and the PS-PGMs structure is constructed.The electromagnetic scattering characteristics of the new structure have been simulated,and the reflectance measurement has been carried out to verify the absorbing effect.The results demonstrate that the attenuation effect of the new structure is superior to that of the pure plasma structure,which invokes an improved attenuation effect from the thin layer plasma,thus enhancing the feasibility of applying the plasma stealth technology to the local stealth of the strong scattering part of a combat aircraft.

Measuring positive public transit accessibility using big transit data

Most of the current existing accessibility measures quantify the potential of reaching desirable opportunities across space and time.Nevertheless,these potential measurements only illus-trate the maximum possible accessibility a person can have,which may not accurately measure real-world transit accessibility in urban areas.This paper introduces a novel methodology to measure positive public transit accessibility based on multi-source big public transit data such as Smart Card Data(SCD)and Global Navigation Satellite System trajectory data,which embed rich travel information and real-world spatio-temporal constraints.First,we use multi-source transit data to reconstruct trip chains,which are used to extract popular destinations.A novel transit accessibility measure is defined to account for latent trip information such as mode/route preference,opportunity attraction,and travel impedance that are difficult to capture explicitly via traditional normative measures.Finally,we produce accessibility maps to visualize time-varying and heterogeneous accessibility patterns distributed over the study region.We performed an empirical evaluation on real-world transit data collected in Shenzhen City,China,demonstrating the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed method in mapping positive transit accessibility over large metropolitan areas.The results and findings of the empirical study demonstrate that the proposed positive accessibility measure can better capture travel behavior characteristics and constraints than traditional normative measures.The measure-ment method can be used as a practical high-resolution mapping tool for transit decision makers in evaluating public transit systems,supporting strategic transit planning,and improv-ing daily transit management.

LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1),a novel target for opening the blood-labyrinth barrier(BLB)

Inner ear disorders are a cluster of diseases that cause hearing loss in more than 1.5 billion people worldwide.However,the presence of the blood-labyrinth barrier(BLB)on the surface of the inner ear capillaries greatly hinders the effectiveness of systemic drugs for prevention and intervention due to the low permeability,which restricts the entry of most drug compounds from the bloodstream into the inner ear tissue.Here,we report the finding of a novel receptor,low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1(LRP1),that is expressed on the BLB,as a potential target for shuttling therapeutics across this barrier.As a proof-ofconcept,we developed an LRP1-binding peptide,IETP2,and covalently conjugated a series of model small-molecule compounds to it,including potential drugs and imaging agents.All compounds were successfully delivered into the inner ear and inner ear lymph,indicating that targeting the receptor LRP1 is a promising strategy to enhance the permeability of the BLB.The discovery of the receptor LRP1 will illuminate developing strategies for crossing the BLB and for improving systemic drug delivery for inner ear disorders.

Litter age interacted with N and P addition to impact soil N_(2)O emissions in Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations

Litter decomposition impacts carbon(C)and nutrient cycling.Nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)addition as well as litter age impact litter decomposition.Effects of nutrient addition and litter age on litter decomposition may impact emissions of soil nitrous oxide(N_(2)O),which is an important greenhouse gas.However,no study has examined the effects of interactions between litter age and nutrient addition on soil N_(2)O emissions,and explored the underlining mechanisms simultaneously,thus limiting our evaluation of litter decomposition effects on N_(2)O emissions.Litter with different age was collected from Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations experienced N and P addition treatments to examine the effects of nutrient addition and litter age on N_(2)O emissions by incubation study.Litter age generally increased N_(2)O emissions via a decrease in litter C:N ratio.While P addition decreased N_(2)O emissions,N addition increased them mainly by positive effects on soil enzymes as indicated by microbial functional genes associated with N_(2)O production and negative effects on litter C:N ratio.Litter age and nutrient addition interacted to impact soil N_(2)O emissions.In future forest management,both nutrient addition and litter age should be considered in evaluation of management effects on N_(2)O emissions,especially thinning or selectively cutting involving litter input with different age.

Development and validation of novel inflammatory response-related gene signature for sepsis prognosis

Due to the low specificity and sensitivity of biomarkers in sepsis diagnostics,the prognosis of sepsis patient outcomes still relies on the assessment of clinical symptoms.Inflammatory response is crucial to sepsis onset and progression;however,the significance of inflammatory response-related genes(IRRGs)in sepsis prognosis is uncertain.This study developed an IRRG-based signature for sepsis prognosis and immunological function.The Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database was retrieved for two sepsis microarray datasets,GSE64457 and GSE69528,followed by gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA)comparing sepsis and healthy samples.A predictive signature for IRRGs was created using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO).To confirm the efficacy and reliability of the new prognostic signature,Cox regression,Kaplan-Meier(K-M)survival,and receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analyses were performed.Subsequently,we employed the GSE95233 dataset to independently validate the prognostic signature.A single-sample GSEA(ssGSEA)was conducted to quantify the immune cell enrichment score and immune-related pathway activity.We found that more gene sets were enriched in the inflammatory response in sepsis patient samples than in healthy patient samples,as determined by GSEA.The signature of nine IRRGs permitted the patients to be classified into two risk categories.Patients in the low-risk group showed significantly better 28-d survival than those in the high-risk group.ROC curve analysis corroborated the predictive capacity of the signature,with the area under the curve(AUC)for 28-d survival reaching 0.866.Meanwhile,the ss GSEA showed that the two risk groups had different immune states.The validation set and external dataset showed that the signature was clinically predictive.In conclusion,a signature consisting of nine IRRGs can be utilized to predict prognosis and influence the immunological status of sepsis patients.Thus,intervention based on these IRRGs may become a therapeutic option in the future.