Synergistic anionic/zwitterionic mixed surfactant system with high emulsification efficiency for enhanced oil recovery in low permeability reservoirs

Emulsification is one of the important mechanisms of surfactant flooding. To improve oil recovery for low permeability reservoirs, a highly efficient emulsification oil flooding system consisting of anionic surfactant sodium alkyl glucosyl hydroxypropyl sulfonate(APGSHS) and zwitterionic surfactant octadecyl betaine(BS-18) is proposed. The performance of APGSHS/BS-18 mixed surfactant system was evaluated in terms of interfacial tension, emulsification capability, emulsion size and distribution, wettability alteration, temperature-resistance and salt-resistance. The emulsification speed was used to evaluate the emulsification ability of surfactant systems, and the results show that mixed surfactant systems can completely emulsify the crude oil into emulsions droplets even under low energy conditions. Meanwhile,the system exhibits good temperature and salt resistance. Finally, the best oil recovery of 25.45% is achieved for low permeability core by the mixed surfactant system with a total concentration of 0.3 wt%while the molar ratio of APGSHS:BS-18 is 4:6. The current study indicates that the anionic/zwitterionic mixed surfactant system can improve the oil flooding efficiency and is potential candidate for application in low permeability reservoirs.

Diabetes and high-glucose could upregulate the expression of receptor for activated C kinase 1 in retina

BACKGROUND Diabetic retinopathy(DR)is a major ocular complication of diabetes mellitus,leading to visual impairment.Retinal pigment epithelium(RPE)injury is a key component of the outer blood retinal barrier,and its damage is an important indicator of DR.Receptor for activated C kinase 1(RACK1)activates protein kinase C-ε(PKC-ε)to promote the generation of reactive oxygen species(ROS)in RPE cells,leading to apoptosis.Therefore,we hypothesize that the activation of RACK1 under hypoxic/high-glucose conditions may promote RPE cell apoptosis by modulating PKC-ε/ROS,thereby disrupting the barrier effect of the outer blood retinal barrier and contributing to the progression of DR.AIM To investigate the role and associated underlying mechanisms of RACK1 in the development of early DR.METHODS In this study,Sprague-Dawley rats and adult RPE cell line-19(ARPE-19)cells were used as in vivo and in vitro models,respectively,to explore the role of RACK1 in mediating PKC-εin early DR.Furthermore,the impact of RACK1 on apoptosis and barrier function of RPE cells was also investigated in the former model.RESULTS Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats showed increased apoptosis and upregulated expression of RACK1 and PKC-εproteins in RPE cells following a prolonged modeling.Similarly,ARPE-19 cells exposed to high glucose and hypoxia displayed elevated mRNA and protein levels of RACK1 and PKC-ε,accompanied by an increases in ROS production,apoptosis rate,and monolayer permeability.However,silencing RACK1 significantly downregulated the expression of PKC-εand ROS,reduced cell apoptosis and permeability,and protected barrier function.CONCLUSION RACK1 plays a significant role in the development of early DR and might serve as a potential therapeutic target for DR by regulating RPE apoptosis and barrier function.

Integration of Ideological and Political Curriculum into Botany Experimental Teaching in Agricultural and Forestry Colleges

Ideological and political education is an important direction of curriculum reform,which aims to explore the organic combination of ideological and political elements and professional knowledge in the teaching process of professional courses,and enhance the guidance of students’ideological education while teaching knowledge.Botany experiments are an important part of the botany courses in agricultural and forestry colleges.This article takes the botany experimental courses as an example to explore the necessity,methods,and processes of implementing ideological and political education in the botany experimental courses,and to explore the practical teaching of botany experiments.The potential ideological and political elements existing in the course were excavated,and the results of integrating ideological and political education in the botany experimental course were summarized,which provided a guideline for the better implementation of ideological and political education in the botany experimental course.

标准化病人结合CBL教学模式在眼科学专业硕士临床实践教学中的应用

目的:探讨标准化病人(SP)与以病例为基础的学习(CBL)模式相结合的教学模式应用在眼科学专业硕士研究生临床实践教学中的效果。方法:于2017-07/2019-07选取南昌大学第一附属医院眼科病区2017、2018、2019级专业硕士研究生40名为研究对象,随机进行分组,研究组20名采取SP+CBL案例式相结合的教学模式;对照组20名采取传统课堂带教学习(LBL)教学模式。两组教学师资、内容与时间(12mo)无差别,观察并比较两组学生学习能力、理论知识和临床技能操作考核成绩,并针对学生对教学效果的评价进行统计学分析。结果:两组学生入学成绩无明显差异,教学后研究组学生学习积极性、记忆效率、临床操作技能及医患沟通能力均更具优势(P<0.05),理论知识和临床技能操作考核成绩均优于对照组(87.95±6.78分vs 78.95±6.28分,82.20±4.53分vs 75.95±4.05分,均P<0.05),且研究组学生对实行SP+CBL案例式教学模式的评价显著高于实行LBL教学模式的对照组(P<0.05)。结论:SP与CBL案例式教学相结合的教学模式对眼科学专业硕士研究生的临床实践教学有显著优势。

预拉伸对聚丁二酸丁二醇酯/碳纳米管复合材料结晶行为及力学性能影响

以熔融共混法制备了碳纳米管(CNTs)增强的聚丁二酸丁二醇酯(PBS)复合材料,研究了预拉伸对PBS/CNTs复合材料结晶行为及力学性能的影响。CNTs的加入在复合材料中起到了异相成核作用,促进了PBS的结晶,提高了复合材料的力学性能。单轴预拉伸使CNTs与PBS分子链的有序程度同时增加,有序排列的CNTs进一步增加了PBS晶体的取向度,预拉伸与CNTs对复合材料的增强实现了协同作用。然而,加入CNTs以及在不同温度、不同拉伸应变下的预拉伸均未导致PBS晶体结构发生转变。经在60℃预拉伸500%的PBS/CNTs(质量分数5%)复合材料,其拉伸强度达到286.1 MPa、弹性模量达2.9 GPa,实现了对PBS的增强。

Inhibition of Excitatory Amino Acid Efflux Contributes to Protective Effects of Puerarin Against Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

To investigate whether the protective effects of puerarine （Pur） against cerebral ischemia is associated with depressing the extracellular levels of amino acid transmitters in brain of rats. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion （MCAO） for 60 min followed by 24 h reperfusion. Put （50, 100 mg/kg, i.p.） was administered at the onset of MCAO. The infarct rate and edema rate were detected on TTC （2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride）-stained coronal sections. The extracellular levels of amino acid transmitters were monitored in striatum of rats with ischemic/reperfusion injury using in vivo microdialysis technique. Furthermore, the protective effects of Pur against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity were detected. Glutamate-induced apoptotic and necrotic cells in hippocampus were estimated by flow cytometric analysis of Annexin-V and PI labeling cells. Results Pur （100 mg/kg） significantly decreased infarct size by 31.6% （P〈0.05）, reduced edema volume （P〈0.05）, and improved neurological functions （P〈0.05） following MCAO. In these rats, the ischemia-induced extracellular levels of aspartate （Asp）, glutamate （Glu）, γ-aminobutyric acid （GABA）, and taurine （Tau） were significantly reduced in striatum of vehicle-treated animals by 54.7%, 56.7%, 75.8%, and 68.1% （P〈0.01 and P〈0.05）. Pur reduced the peak values of Glu and Asp more obviously than those of GABA and Tau, and the rate of Glu/GABA during MCAO markedly decreased in Pur-treated MCAO rats, compared with the vehicle-treated MCAO rats. Meanwhile, apoptosis and necrosis induced by Glu in cultured hippocampal neurons were significantly reduced after Pur treatment. Conclusion Acute treatment with Put at the onset of occlusion significantly depresses ischemia-induced efflux of amino acids, especially, excitotoxicity in the striatum, a mechanism underlying the neuroprotective effect on cellular survival.

Survey of molecular profiling during human colon cancer development and progression by immunohistochemical staining on tissue microarray

AIM: To explore the molecular events taking place during human colon cancer development and progression through high-throughput tissue microarray analysis. METHODS: We constructed two separate tissue microarrays containing 1.0 mm or 1.5 mm cylindrical samples acquired from 112 formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded blocks, including carcinomas (n = 85), adenomatous polyps (n = 18), as well as normal para-cancerous colon tissues (n = 9). Immunohistochemical staining was applied to the analysis of the consecutive tissue microarray sections with antibodies for 11 different proteins, including p53, p21, bcl-2, bax, cyclin D1, PTEN, p-Akt1, β-catenin, c-myc, nm23-h1 and Cox-2.RESULTS: The protein expressions of p53, bcl-2, bax, cyclin D1, β-catenin, c-myc, Cox-2 and nm23-h1 varied significantly among tissues from cancer, adenomatous polyps and normal colon mucosa (P = 0.003, P = 0.001, P = 0.000, P = 0.000, P = 0.034, P = 0.003, P = 0.002, and P = 0.007, respectively). Chi-square analysis showed that the statistically significant variables were p53, p21, bax, β-catenin, c-myc, PTEN, p-Akt1, Cox-2 and nm23-h1 for histological grade (P = 0.005, P = 0.013, P = 0.044, P = 0.000, P = 0.000, P = 0.029, P = 0.000, P = 0.008, and P = 0.000, respectively), β-catenin, c-myc and p-Akt1 for lymph node metastasis (P = 0.011, P =0.005, and P = 0.032, respectively), β-catenin, c-myc, Cox-2 and nm23-h1 for distance metastasis (P = 0.020, P = 0.000, P = 0.026, and P = 0.008, respectively), and cyclin D1, β-catenin, c-myc, Cox-2 and nm23h1 for clinical stages (P = 0.038, P = 0.008, P = 0.000, P = 0.016, and P = 0.014, respectively). CONCLUSION: Tissue microarray immunohistochemical staining enables high-throughput analysis of genetic alterations contributing to human colon cancer development and progression. Our results implicate the potential roles of p53, cyclin D1, bcl-2, bax, Cox-2, β-catenin and c-myc in development of human colon cancer and that of bcl-2, nm23-h1, PTEN and p-Akt1 in progression of human colon cancer.

Clinical significance of melatonin concentrations in predicting the severity of acute pancreatitis

AIM: To assess the value of plasma melatonin in pre-dicting acute pancreatitis when combined with the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) and bedside index for severity in acute pancreatitis (BISAP) scoring systems. METHODS: APACHEⅡ and BISAP scores were calculated for 55 patients with acute physiology (AP) in the first 24 h of admission to the hospital. Additionally, morning (6:00 AM) serum melatonin concentrations were measured on the first day after admission. According to the diagnosis and treatment guidelines for acute pancreatitis in China, 42 patients suffered mild AP (MAP). The other 13 patients developed severe AP (SAP). A total of 45 healthy volunteers were used in this study as controls. The ability of melatonin and the APACHEⅡ and BISAP scoring systems to predict SAP was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The optimal melatonin cutoff concentration for SAP patients, based on the ROC curve, was used to classify the patients into either a high concen-tration group (34 cases) or a low concentration group (21 cases). Differences in the incidence of high scores, according to the APACHEⅡ and BISAP scoring sys- tems, were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The MAP patients had increased melatonin levels compared to the SAP (38.34 ng/L vs 26.77 ng/L) (P = 0.021) and control patients (38.34 ng/L vs 30.73 ng/L) (P = 0.003). There was no significant difference inmelatoninconcentrations between the SAP group and the control group. The accuracy of determining SAP based on the melatonin level, the APACHEⅡ score and the BISAP score was 0.758, 0.872, and 0.906, respectively, according to the ROC curve. A melatonin concentration ≤ 28.74 ng/L was associated with an increased risk of developing SAP. The incidence of high scores (≥ 3) using the BISAP system was significantly higher in patients with low melatonin concentration (≤ 28.74 ng/L) compared to patients with high melatonin concentration (> 28.74 ng/L) (42.9% vs 14.7%, P = 0.02). The incidence of high APACHEⅡ scores (≥ 10) between the two groups was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: The melatonin concentration is closely related to the severity of AP and the BISAP score. Therefore, we can evaluate the severity of disease by measuring the levels of serum melatonin.

绝经后女性2型糖尿病患者的DKK1蛋白表达水平及其临床意义

目的探讨Wnt信号通路中DKK1蛋白在绝经后2型糖尿病(T2DM)女性患者中的表达及其与胰岛素抵抗和胰岛β细胞功能的关系。方法选取2015年10月-2017年10月于石河子大学第一附属医院和新疆维吾尔自治区石河子市第十五社区卫生服务中心住院的绝经后女性T2DM患者。收集患者临床资料并检测常规生化指标、空腹胰岛素(FINS)、空腹C肽(FCP)及DKK1蛋白表达水平,计算胰岛素敏感指数(ISI)、胰岛素抵抗指数(HOMA-IR)及胰岛素β细胞功能指数(HOMA-β)。采用SPSS 20.0统计软件进行数据分析。结果与NGT组相比,T2DM组FPG、果糖胺、HbA1c、TC及HOMA-IR水平提高,FCP、ISI及HOMA-β水平降低(P<0.05)。T2DM组DKK1蛋白表达水平升高(P<0.05)。DKK1蛋白表达水平与FCP呈负相关,与HOMA-IR呈正相关(P<0.05)。FPG、DKK1蛋白是影响FCP及HOMAIR水平的因素(P<0.05)。结论 Wnt信号通路中DKK1蛋白水平的高表达可能参与绝经后女性T2DM患者胰岛素抵抗、胰岛β细胞功能减退的发生发展过程,进而导致绝经后女性T2DM的糖代谢及脂代谢紊乱。

Development of Selenium-rich Passion Fruit Industry in Guangxi

According to the understanding of current situation of Guangxi selenium-containing passion fruit products and the advantages and disadvantages of related product markets,the corresponding improvement plans were proposed for the supply and demand of products and the adjustment of industrial development,so as to provide theoretical data support for optimizing the industrial structure and increasing the market share of selenium-rich passion fruit in Guangxi.

Complete Rupture of the Pregnant Uterus:A 10-year Retrospective Descriptive Study

Objective:The goal of this work is to analyze the incidence,etiology,clinical characteristics,maternal and neonatal outcomes of complete uterine rupture during pregnancy.Methods:The information of complete uterine rupture between June 2010 and May 2020 was investigated retrospectively at a tertiary center,and included demographic data,delivery characteristics,intraoperative findings,and maternal and neonatal outcomes.The prevalence rate of uterine rupture in the early group(hospitalized from June 2010 to May 2015)and late group(June 2015 to May 2020)was compared and analyzed.

Reduction in interhemispheric functional connectivity in the dorsal visual pathway in unilateral acute open globe injury patients: a resting-state fMRI study

This study investigated the changes in interhemispheric functional connectivity （FC） of the whole brain in open globe injury （OGI） patients, using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity （VMHC）, and their relationships with clinical features. Totally, 16 male and 2 female acute OGI patients and 18 sex, age, and education-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. All subjects were scanned through functional magnetic resonance imaging （fMRI）. Receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curves analyses had been used to identify the VMHC in these brain areas could be used as biomarkers to distinguish OGI and from healthy control （HC）. The mean VMHC values in multiple brain areas and clinical OGI manifestations were evaluated with a Pearson correlation analysis. OGI patients had significantly decreased VMHC in the bilateral calcarine/lingual/cuneus （BA18, 19, 30） and middle occipital gyrus （BA18, 19）. The OGI patients had abnormal interhemispheric FC in the dorsal visual pathway, which may represent the pathophysiological mechanism that underlies acute vision loss after OGI.

A Participant-assigned Interventional Research of Precesarean Internal Iliac Artery Balloon Catheterization for Managing Intraoperative Hemorrhage of Placenta Previa and Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorders After Cesarean Section

Placenta accreta spectrum disorder (PASD) and placenta previa (PP) are two of the mosthideous obstetric complications which are usually associated with a history of cesarean section(CS). Moreover, women with PASD, PP and/or a cesarean scarred uterus are more likely to haveadverse pregnancy outcomes, including blood transfusion, hysterectomy, pelvic organs damage,postpartum hemorhage, disseminated intravascular coagulation, multi-organ dysfunction syndromeand even maternal or fetal death. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of precesareaninternal iliac artery balloon catheterization (BC) for managing severe hemorhage caused by PASDand PP with a history of CS. This participant-assigned interventional study was conducted inTongji Hospital. We recruited 128 women with suspected PASD, PP and a history of CS. Womenin the BC group accepted precesarean BC of bilateral internal iliac arteries before the scheduledcesarean delivery. Women in the control group underwent a conventional cesarean delivery.Intraoperative hemorrhage, transfusion volume, radiation dose, exposure time, complicationsand neonatal outcomes were discussed. There were significant differences in calculated bloodloss (CBL) between BC group and control group (1015.0±144.9 vs. 1467.0±171.0 mL, P=0.04).Precesarean BC could reduce intraoperative red blood cell (RBC) transfusion as compared withcontrol group (799.5±136.1 vs. 1286.0±161.6 mL, P=0.02) and lessen the rate of using bloodproducts (57.1% vs. 76.4%, P=0.02). The incidence of hysterectomy was also lower in BC groupthan in control group. Postpartum outcomes showed no significant differences between the twogroups, except that postoperation hospitalization was longer in BC group than in control group(6.7±0.4 vs. 5.8±0.2 days, P=0.03). Precesarean BC of internal iliac artery is an effective methodfor managing severe hemorrhage caused by PASD and PP with a cesarean scarred uterus, as it couldreduce intraoperative blood loss, lessen intraoperative RBC transfusions and potentially decreasehysterectomies.

Co-infection of SARS-COV-2 and Influenza A Virus:A Case Series and Fast Review

Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)occurs in the influenza season and has become a global pandemic.The present study aimed to examine severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)co-infection with influenza A virus(IAV)in an attempt to provide clues for the antiviral interventions of co-infected patients.We described two patients who were co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and IAV treated at Wuhan Union Hospital,China.In addition,we performed a review in PubMed,Web of Science and CNKI(from January 1 up to November 1,2020)with combinations of the following key words:“COVID-19,SARS-COV-2,influenza A and co-infection”.A total of 28 co-infected patients were enrolled in the analysis.Of the 28 patients,the median age was 54.5 years(IQR,34.25–67.5)and 14 cases(50.0%)were classified as severe types.The most common symptoms were fever(85.71%),cough(82.14%)and dyspnea(60.71%).Sixteen patients had lymphocytopenia on admission and 23 patients exhibited abnormal radiological changes.The median time from symptom onset to hospital admission was 4 days(IQR,3–6),and the median time of hospital stay was 14 days(IQR,8.5–16.75).In conclusion,patients with SARSCOV-2 and IAV co-infection were similar to those infected with SARS-COV-2 alone in symptoms and radiological images.SARS-COV-2 co-infection with IAV could lead to more severe clinical condition but did not experience longer hospital stay compared with patients infected with SARSCOV-2 alone.

Competitive and synergistic adsorption of binary volatile organic compound mixtures on activated carbon

The adsorption of four substances and their binary mixture is investigated via the terahertz time domain spectroscopy(THz-TDS). The selected unary compound(ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and n-propyl acetate) and binary mixture(solution 1 is composed of ethanol and acetone, and solution 2 is composed of ethyl acetate and n-propyl acetate) exhibit different adsorption behaviors with varied polarities. In comparison with single component, solution 1 shows shorter adsorption equilibrium time, faster adsorption rate, and stronger adsorption capacity, which conform to a synergistic adsorption mechanism, while the competitive behavior is attributed to the slower adsorption in solution 2. In addition, the pseudo-second-order equation with terahertz parameter is used to assess the rate of binary component organics. The present results indicate a further understanding of multicomponent adsorption mechanisms.

Altered regional homogeneity in patients with diabetic vitreous hemorrhage

BACKGROUND Diabetic vitreous hemorrhage(DVH)is a common complication of diabetes.While the diagnostic methods nowadays only concentrate on the eye injury in DVH patients,whether DVH leads to abnormalities of other visual systems,including the eye,the visual cortex,and other brain regions,remains unknown.AIM To explore the potential changes of brain activity in DVH using regional homogeneity(ReHo)and their relationships with clinical features.METHODS Thirty-one DVH patients and 31 matched healthy controls(HCs)were recruited.All subjects were examined by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.The neural homogeneity in the brain region was estimated by ReHo method.Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationships between average ReHo values and clinical manifestations in DVH patients.RESULTS Compared with HCs,the ReHo values in the bilateral cerebellar posterior lobes,right superior(RS)/middle occipital gyrus(MOG),and bilateral superior frontal gyrus were significantly increased.In contrast,in the right insula,bilateral medial frontal gyri,and right middle frontal gyrus,the ReHo values were significantly decreased.Furthermore,we found that best-corrected visual acuity of the contralateral eye in patients with DVH presented a positive correlation with the mean ReHo value of the RS/MOG.We also found that depression score of the DVH group presented a negative correlation with the mean ReHo values of the right insula,bilateral medial frontal gyrus,and right middle frontal gyrus.CONCLUSION We found that DVH may cause dysfunction in multiple brain areas,which may benefit the exploration of pathologic mechanisms in DVH patients.

Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 Viral Shedding in Patients with COVID-19 was Associated with Delayed Initiation of Arbidol Treatment and Consulting Doctor Later: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objective:To study data about SARS-CoV-2 virus shedding and clarify the risk factors for prolonged virus shedding.Methods:Data were retrospectively collected from adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease-19(COVID-19)in Wuhan Union Hospital.We compared clinical features among patients with prolonged(a positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA on day 23 after illness onset)and short virus shedding and evaluated risk factors associated with prolonged virus shedding by multivariate regression analysis.Results:Among 238 patients,the median age was 55.5 years,57.1%were female,92.9%(221/238)were administered with arbidol,58.4%(139/238)were given arbidol in combination with interferon.The median duration of SARS-CoV-2 virus shedding was 23 days(IQR,17.8-30 days)with a longest one of 51 days.The patients with prolonged virus shedding had higher value of D-dimer(P=0.002),IL-6(P<0.001),CRP(P=0.005)and more lobes lung lesion(P=0.014)on admission,as well as older age(P=0.017)and more patients with hypertension(P=0.044)than in those the virus shedding less than 23 days.Multivariate regression analysis revealed that prolonged viral shedding was significantly associated with initiation arbidol≥8 days after symptom onset[OR:2.447,95%CI(1.351-4.431)],≥3 days from onset of symptoms to first medical visitation[OR:1.880,95%CI(1.035-3.416)],illness onset before Jan.31,2020[OR:3.289,95%CI(1.474-7.337)].Arbidol in combination with interferon was also significantly associated with shorter virus shedding[OR:0.363,95%CI(0.191-0.690)].Conclusion:Duration of SARS-CoV-2 virus shedding was long.Early initiation of arbidol and arbidol in combination with interferon as well as consulting doctor timely after illness onset were helpful for SARS-CoV-2 clearance.

A multistimuli-responsive fluorescent hydrogel based on a fluorescence response to macromolecular segmental motion

Fluorescent hydrogels with fast and reversible responses have attracted extensive attention, and it remains a challenge to designmultistimuli-responsive fluorescent hydrogel through a facile and versatile method. Meanwhile, the segmental motion inhydrogels is of significance for the various functions of hydrogels such as chemical reactivity, self-healing, and mechanicalstrength, etc., however, it is difficult and complicated to in situ investigate the segmental motion under different conditions. In thiswork, a multistimuli-responsive fluorescent hydrogel was designed and fabricated by introducing a tetraphenylethylene (TPE)derivative as a nonaggregated crosslinker in the gel network. Since the intermolecular rotation of TPE at the crosslinking pointwas directly integrated with the dynamic conformational transition of the macromolecular network, the mobility of macromolecularsegments can be monitored by the fluorescence intensity of the hydrogel. The prepared hydrogel has promising fluorescenceresponses to temperature, pH, metal ions, and hydrogen bonding agents, and characterization of the fluorescence and the chainsegmental motion showed that the weaker the mobility of the network macromolecular chain is, the stronger the fluorescenceintensity is. Furthermore, due to the multistimuli-responsive fluorescence of the hydrogel, such fluorescent hydrogels can bedesigned as reversible patterning displays and biomimetic color/shape adjustable actuators, with various potential applications.

Genome-wide characterization of alternative splicing in blood cells of COVID-19 and respiratory infections of relevance

Dear Editor,Alternative splicing of eukaryotic transcripts refers to the posttranscriptional process in which the coding regions(exons)of a precursor transcript are joined in different combinations through the removal or retention of non-coding intervening sequences(introns)to produce distinct mature messenger RNA(mRNA)transcripts and further generate one or more mature mRNAs(Lee and Rio,2015).Alternative splicing is revealed dysregulation in infectious diseases.Many pathogens hijack the splicing mechanism of host cells to complete their replications,accompanied by dysregulated innate immune response or cell damage,leading to the changes of alternative splicing landscape in host cells(Ashraf et al.,2019;Tomezsko et al.,2020;Kremsdorf et al.,2021).The regulation mechanism of alternative splicing by viral pathogens,such as hepatitis B virus(Duriez et al.,2017),human immunodeficiency virus 1(Tomezsko et al.,2020),Zika virus(Bonenfant et al.,2020)and enterovirus 71(Li et al.,2020),have been explored.

Interleukin-17 inhibits development of malignant pleural effusion via interleukin-9-dependent mechanism

Th17 and Th9 cells have been demonstrated to possess immune regulatory functions in malignant pleural effusion(MPE). However, whether IL-17 can affect differentiation and function of Th9 cells in MPE remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to explore the impact of IL-17 on the in vivo differentiation of Th9 cells in relation to Th2 cells in a murine model of MPE, and to explore whether IL-17 inhibits MPE formation via IL-9-dependent mechanism. It was found that Th9 and Th2 cells were decreased in MPE from IL-17^(–/–) mice as compared with wild type mice. IL-17 deficiency inhibited Th9 and Th2 cell differentiation via suppressing transcription factors IRF4 and GATA-3, respectively. IL-17 deficiency enhanced MPE formation by promoting angiogenesis and proliferation of pleural tumors, and thus accelerated the death of mice bearing MPE. The in vivo administration of anti-IL-9 neutralizing m Ab accelerated the death of WT mice; whereas administration of exogenous IL-9 improved the survival of IL-17^(–/–) mice. Our data provide the first definitive evidence that IL-17 promotes the differentiation of Th9 and Th2 cells in MPE. Our findings also demonstrate that IL-17 inhibits the formation of MPE and improves the survival of mice bearing MPE via an IL-9–dependent mechanism.