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The mpox epidemic had spread worldwide and become an epidemic of international concern. Before the emergence of targeted vaccines and specific drugs, it is necessary to numerically simulate and predict the epidemic. In order to better understand and grasp its transmission situation, and take some countermeasures accordingly when necessary, we predicted and simulated mpox transmission, vaccination and control scenarios using model developed for COVID-19 predictions. The results show that the prediction model can also achieve good results in predicting the mpox epidemic based on modified SEIR model. The total number of people infected with mpox on Dec 31, 2022 reached 83878, while the prediction of the model was 96456 with a relative error of 15%. The United States, Brazil, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Germany are six countries with serve mpox epidemic. The predictions of their epidemic are 30543, 11191, 7447, 5945, 5606 and 4291 cases respectively, with an average relative error of 20%. If 30% of the population is vaccinated using a vaccine that is 78% effective, the number of infected people will drop by 29%. This shows that the system can be practically applied to the prediction of mpox epidemic and provide corresponding decision-making reference. • We constructed a general epidemic model to simulate and predict mpox outbreaks, and achieve good results. • The SEIQRDP model is constructed by improving the traditional SEIR model, which is closer to the reality. • Introduce the idea of inversion parameters of climate models to obtain parameters that are closer to the real situation. • The idea of parameterization scheme of climate models is introduced to describe different situations in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic appeared summer surge in 2022 worldwide and this contradicts its seasonal fluctuations. Even as high temperature and intense ultraviolet radiation can inhibit viral activity, the number of new cases worldwide has increased to >78% in only 1 month since the summer of 2022 under unchanged virus mutation influence and control policies. Using the attribution analysis based on the theoretical infectious diseases model simulation, we found the mechanism of the severe COVID-19 outbreak in the summer of 2022 and identified the amplification effect of heat wave events on its magnitude. The results suggest that approximately 69.3% of COVID-19 cases this summer could have been avoided if there is no heat waves. The collision between the pandemic and the heatwave is not an accident. Climate change is leading to more frequent extreme climate events and an increasing number of infectious diseases, posing an urgent threat to human health and life. Therefore, public health authorities must quickly develop coordinated management plans to deal with the simultaneous occurrence of extreme climate events and infectious diseases. • The global distribution of the COVID-19 outbreak in summer 2022 is consistent with heat waves. • Approximately 69.3% of COVID-19 cases could have been avoided if there is no heat waves in the summer of 2022. • Extreme heat events will continue to intensify, and heat-related health threats are projected to increase further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crowd gatherings are an important cause of COVID-19 outbreaks. However, how the scale, scene and other factors of gatherings affect the spread of the epidemic remains unclear. A total of 184 gathering events worldwide were collected to construct a database, and 99 of them with a clear gathering scale were used for statistical analysis of the impact of these factors on the disease incidence among the crowd in the study. The results showed that the impact of small-scale (less than 100 people) gathering events on the spread of COVID-19 in the city is also not to be underestimated due to their characteristics of more frequent occurrence and less detection and control. In our dataset, 22.22% of small-scale events have an incidence of more than 0.8. In contrast, the incidence of most large-scale events is less than 0.4. Gathering scenes such as "Meal" and "Family" occur in densely populated private or small public places have the highest incidence. We further designed a model of epidemic transmission triggered by crowd gathering events and simulated the impact of crowd gathering events on the overall epidemic situation in the city. The simulation results showed that the number of patients will be drastically reduced if the scale and the density of crowds gathering are halved. It indicated that crowd gatherings should be strictly controlled on a small scale. In addition, it showed that the model well reproduce the epidemic spread after crowd gathering events better than does the original SIER model and could be applied to epidemic prediction after sudden gathering events. • A model of epidemic transmission triggered by gathering events was designed. • The harm of small-scale gatherings to society should not be underestimated. • Densely populated scenes like "Meal" and "Family" have the highest incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused tremendous losses to the world. This study addresses the impact and diffusion of the five major new coronavirus variants namely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Eta, and Delta lineage. The results of this study indicate that Africa and Europe will be affected by new coronavirus variants the most compared with other continents. The comparative analysis indicates that vaccination can contain the spread of the virus in most of the continent, and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as restriction on gatherings and close public transport, will effectively curb the pandemic, especially in densely populated continents. According to our Global Prediction System of COVID-19 Pandemic, the diffusion of delta lineage in the US shows seasonal oscillation characteristics, and the first wave will occur in October 2021, with the record of 323,360, and followed by a small resurgence in April 2022, with the record of 184,196, while the second wave will reach to 232,622 cases in October 2022. Our study will raise the awareness of new coronavirus variants among the public, and will help the governments make appropriate directives to cope with the new coronavirus variants. • Africa and Europe are the two most heavily affected continents by the new coronavirus variants. • Vaccination can contain the diffusion of new coronavirus variants effectively. • Nonpharmaceutical interventions can contain the spread of new variants effectively, especially in densely populated continents. • The diffusion of delta lineage in the US shows seasonal oscillation. • Characteristics, and will be continuous in the next year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted two studies on participants from China and the USA to investigate their beliefs about food sharing. In Study 1, the participants were asked to rate the influence of different types of sharing on the interpersonal relationships between two individuals. Compared to sharing non-food material, both groups expected sharing food to exert a more positive influence on the intimacy and mutual trust between the sharer and the recipient. In Study 2A, the participants were asked to rate to which extent it is appropriate to share a certain food with another person. The results revealed that the solid or liquid state and the type of foods influenced both groups of participants' beliefs about whether a food is appropriate for sharing. In Study 2B, the participants were asked to rate the likelihood of ordering certain foods when they were eating alone, eating together, or sharing food with another person in a restaurant scenario. When sharing food with other people, both groups of participants were less likely to order foods that were inappropriate for sharing and more likely to order foods that were appropriate for sharing, thus suggesting the influence of beliefs about food sharing on food choices. Despite some cross-cultural differences in both studies, the results revealed some cross-cultural shared beliefs about food sharing. These findings suggest that people's beliefs regarding the positive influence of food sharing on interpersonal relationships influence food choices and may help explain why foods are shared while eating with others even there is no social obligation to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that the transmission of COVID-19 can be influenced by the variation of environmental factors due to the seasonal cycle. However, its underlying mechanism in the current and onward transmission pattern remains unclear owing to the limited data and difficulties in separating the impacts of social distancing. Understanding the role of seasonality in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is imperative in formulating public health interventions. Here, the seasonal signals of the COVID-19 time series are extracted using the EEMD method, and a modified Susceptible, Exposed, Infectious, Recovered (SEIR) model incorporated with seasonal factors is introduced to quantify its impact on the current COVID-19 pandemic. Seasonal signals decomposed via the EEMD method indicate that infectivity and mortality of SARS-CoV-2 are both higher in colder climates. The quantitative simulation shows that the cold season in the Southern Hemisphere countries caused a 59.71 ± 8.72% increase of the total infections, while the warm season in the Northern Hemisphere countries contributed to a 46.38 ± 29.10% reduction. COVID-19 seasonality is more pronounced at higher latitudes, where larger seasonal amplitudes of environmental indicators are observed. Seasonality alone is not sufficient to curb the virus transmission to an extent that intervention measures are no longer needed, but health care capacity should be scaled up in preparation for new surges in COVID-19 cases in the upcoming cold season. Our study highlights the necessity of considering seasonal factors when formulating intervention strategies. • Infectivity and mortality of SARS-CoV-2 are both higher in colder climates. • Simulation indicates 40–60% COVID-19 cases are related to seasonality. • COVID-19 seasonality is more pronounced at higher latitudes. • Seasonality alone is not sufficient to curb the COVID-19 transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 2(1 H)-Pyrimidinone as potential EGFR T790M inhibitor against drug-resistant NSCLC. • 7b,e displayed enhanced antiproliferative activity against gefitinib-resistant H1975 cells harboring the EGFR T790M mutation. • 7b has low toxicity against the normal LO2 cells (IC 50 < 11.1 µM). A new class of 2(1 H)-pyrimidinone derivatives was identified as potential EGFR T790M inhibitors against TKI-resistant NSCLC. These novel compounds inhibited the EGFR T790M kinase activity at concentrations in the range of 85.3 to 519.9 nM. In particular, compound 7e exhibited the strongest activity against both EGFRWT (IC 50 = 96.9 nM) and EGFRT790M (IC 50 = 85.3 nM) kinases in the cells. Compared with inhibitor 7e , compound 7b displayed enhanced antiproliferative activity against gefitinib-resistant H1975 cells harboring the EGFR T790M mutation. In addition, compound 7b also has low toxicity against the normal human liver cells LO2, with an IC 50 of 11.1 µM. Moreover, both the AO/EB and DAPI staining assays also demonstrated the inhibitory efficacy of 7b against the resistant H1975 cells. This contribution provides a new scaffold 2(1 H)-pyrimidinone as potential EGFR T790M inhibitor against drug-resistant NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of healthy dietary choices about reducing sweetness perception, the exploration of crossmodal effects stands as a frequently employed approach. Both music and color can independently influence flavor evaluation and gustatory experience by eliciting emotions. However, less research has been done on the effects of audio-visual crossmodal interactions on sweetness expectations and perceptions. The present study conducted two experiments delving into the crossmodal effect on sweetness expectation and perception of milk tea by manipulating the emotional valence of music and packaging color. The results showed that positive (vs. negative) music led to higher sweetness expectations and perceptions for milk teas with neutral packaging color. Irrespective of music, participants had higher sweetness expectations for milk tea with positive or neutral (vs. negative) packaging colors. The congruence of valence between music and packaging color influenced sweetness perception. Positive (vs. negative) music correlated with a sweeter perception when the packaging color was positive. Exposed to negative music, subjects showed a higher sweetness perception with negative (vs. positive) packaging colors. In conclusion, the results suggest that the valence of music and packaging color crossmodally influence consumers' evaluation of milk tea, and it differs depending on whether it was tasted. Thus, this study has demonstrated the crossmodal influence of music and packaging color, providing valuable implications for healthy eating and marketing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azo dyes are difficult to degrade, dark in color and toxic in the aqueous environment, which will harm the ecological environment and human health if left untreated. Photocatalytic technology has a wide range of applications in the treatment of printing and dyeing wastewater; in the present study, nano Zr–BiOI/GO photocatalytic composites were prepared by a hydrolysis method using Bi(NO 3) 3 –5H 2 O and ZrOCl–8H 2 O as precursors and GO as carriers. The structure and properties of the samples were characterized by combining test methods such as XRD, FESEM, TEM, XPS, and UV–vis. Congo red (CR) was used as the target pollutant to assess the photocatalytic performance of the prepared materials. The results showed that the specific surface area of 10 % Zr–BiOI/GO increased from 21.98 m2/g to 152.79 m2/g, and the average particle size decreased from 21.61 nm to 17.75 nm compared with that of BiOI. Compared with BiOI, the light-absorption threshold of 10 % Zr–BiOI/GO was increased from 640.6 to 726.4 nm, and the forbidden bandwidth was decreased from 1.94 eV to 1.71 eV. In addition, the nanocomposites exhibited excellent stability and removal of organic dyes and could be used as a potential photocatalyst for water remediation under visible light. The removal of CR by 10 % Zr–BiOI/GO composite was 95.42 % at 120 min. The photocatalytic degradation process of Zr–BiOI/GO conformed to the first-order kinetic model, and the correlation coefficient of the kinetic curve of 10 % Zr–BiOI/GO was 0.9465 and the reaction rate constant was the greatest at 0.0221 min−1. Superoxide radicals [·O 2 −] play a major role in photocatalytic activity. The results indicate that nanocomposites are a promising candidate for photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants. In this paper, Zr–BiOI/GO photocatalytic composites were prepared by a simple hydrolysis method, which possessed higher specific surface area and narrower forbidden bandwidth than pure BiOI, and could remove up to 95.42 % of Congo red (CR) solution under visible light, in addition to the high stability and recycling rate of Zr–BiOI/GO. [Display omitted] • The pore structures of Zr–BiOI/GO photocatalytic materials prepared by hydrolysis method were well developed. • The maximum removal of Congo red by mesoporous Zr–BiOI/GO photocatalytic material was 96.84 %. • Paradigm of Zr–BiOI/GO resource recovery and wastewater treatment was provided. • Long-term experiments were conducted with excellent stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) domains of the Dbl family occur in a variety of proteins that include multiple protein–protein and protein–lipid interaction domains. We used an epithelial-derived cell line to investigate the mechanisms by which the two GEF domains of Kalirin, a neuronal Rho GEF, influence morphology. As expected, Kal-GEF1, an efficient GEF for Rac1 and RhoG, induced the formation of lamellipodia resembling those induced by active Rac1. Although Kal-GEF1 activated Rac and Pak, its ability to induce formation of lamellipodia was not blocked by dominant negative Rho GTPases or by catalytically inactive Pak. Consistent with this, a catalytically inactive mutant of Kal-GEF1 induced formation of lamellipodia and activated Pak. Active Pak was required for the GEF-activity independent effect of Kal-GEF1 and the lamellipodia produced were filled with ribs of filamentous actin. Kal-GEF1 and a GEF-dead mutant co-immunoprecipitated with Pak. The interaction of Kal-GEF1 with Pak is indirect and requires the regulatory protein binding domain of Pak. Filamin A, which is known to interact with and activate Pak, binds to both catalytically active and inactive Kal-GEF1, providing a link by which catalytically inactive Kal-GEF1 can activate Pak and induce lamellipodia. Together, our results indicate that Kal-GEF1 induces lamellipodia through activation of Pak, where GEF activity is not required. GEF-activity-independent effects on downstream targets may be a general property of RhoGEFs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Conventional full waveform inversion (FWI) using least square distance (L 2 norm) between the observed and predicted seismograms suffers from local minima. Recently, the Wasserstein metric (W 1 metric) has been introduced to FWI to compute the misfit between two seismograms. Instead of comparisons bin by bin, the W 1 metric allows to compare signal intensities across different coordinates. This measure has great potential to account for time and space shifts of events within seismograms. However, there are two main challenges in application of the W 1 metric to FWI. The first one is that the compared signals need to satisfy nonnegativity and mass conservation assumptions. The second one is that the computation of W 1 metric between two seismograms is a computationally expensive problem. In this paper, a strategy is used to satisfy the two assumptions via decomposition and recombination of original seismic data. In addition, the computation of the W 1 metric based on dynamic formulation is formulated as a convex optimization problem. A primal-dual hybrid gradient method with linesearch has been developed to solve this large-scale optimization problem on GPU device. The advantages of the new method are that it is easy to implement and has high computational efficiency. Compared to the L 2 norm based FWI, the computation time of the proposed method will approximately increase by 11% in our case studies. A 1D time-shift signals case study has indicated that the W 1 metric is more effective in capturing time shift and makes the misfit function more convex. Two applications to synthetic data using transmissive and reflective recording geometries have demonstrated the effectiveness of the W 1 metric in mitigating cycle-skipping issues. We have also applied the proposed method to SEG 2014 benchmark data, which has further demonstrated that the W 1 metric can mitigate local minima and provide reliable velocity estimations without using low frequency information in the recorded data. • Apply Wasserstein metric to full waveform inversion to mitigate local minimum issue. • PDHG method is utilized to calculate the Wasserstein metric with dynamic formulation. • Adjoint-state method is applied to compute the gradient of seismic inverse problem. • The effectiveness and robustness of our method are verified by the benchmark data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-efficiency and additionally economic benefits generated from aerobic granular sludge (AGS) wastewater treatment have led to its increasing popularity among academics and industrial players. The AGS process can recycle high value-added biomaterials including extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), sodium alginate-like external polymer (ALE), polyhydroxyfatty acid (PHA), and phosphorus (P), etc., which can serve various fields including agriculture, construction, and chemical while removing pollutants from wastewaters. The effects of various key operation parameters on formation and structural stability of AGS are comprehensively summarized. The degradable metabolism of typical pollutants and corresponding microbial diversity and succession in the AGS wastewater treatment system are also discussed, especially with a focus on emerging contaminants removal. In addition, recent attempts for potentially effective production of high value-added biomaterials from AGS are proposed, particularly concerning improving the yield, quality, and application of these biomaterials. This review aims to provide a reference for in-depth research on the AGS process, suggesting a new alternative for wastewater treatment recycling. • Recycling valuable biomaterials from AGS became a promising alternative. • Microbial characteristics analysis of AGS granulation were provided. • AGS has efficient emerging contaminants removal. • AGS derived technologies displayed significant research potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eighteen derivatives of pentacyclic triterpene carboxylic acids including Maslinic acid (MA), Corosolic acid (CA) and Asiatic acid (AA) have been synthesized by coupling the piperazine- l -amino acid complex at the C-28 site of the parent compounds. The results of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in vitro indicate that two compounds 15e and 16e are closed to that of the reference acarbose in ethanol-water system. Besides, compound 16e shows superior inhibitory activity than acarbose in the DMSO system. Simultaneously, enzyme kinetics has been revealed. [Display omitted] • MA / CA / AA integrated with piperazine- l -amino acid complex have been synthesized. • α-Glucosidase inhibitory activity of pristine derivatives was evaluated in vitro. • The IC 50 value of two compounds is near to that of acarbose in ethanol-water system. • A compound achieves higher inhibitory activity than acarbose in DMSO. • Structure-activity relationship (SAR) of derivatives is also discussed. Eighteen derivatives of pentacyclic triterpene carboxylic acids (Maslinic acid, Corosolic acid and Asiatic acid) have been prepared by coupling the piperazine complex of l -amino acids at the C-28 site of the parent compounds. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of the pristine derivatives were evaluated in vitro. The results indicated that the inhibitory activity of some compounds (15e IC 50 = 591 μM, 16e IC 50 = 423 μM) was closed to that of the reference acarbose (IC 50 = 347 μM) in ethanol-water system. In addition, compound 16e (IC 50 = 380 μM) showed superior inhibitory activity than acarbose (IC 50 = 493 μM) in the measurement system with DMSO as solvent. The comparison of two different solvent systems showed that the derivatives had better α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in the DMSO system than that of in ethanol-water system. Regrettably, all of the as-synthesized derivatives exhibited inferior α-glucosidase inhibitory activities than those of the parent compounds in both test solvent systems. Furthermore, the result of enzyme kinetics demonstrated that the inhibition mechanism of compound 16e was noncompetitive inhibition with the inhibition constant K i = 552 μM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previous studies have demonstrated that the genetic variations of glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) are associated with both familial steroid resistance and acquired steroid resistance in some diseases, such as Cushing’s disease, leukemia, lupus nephritis, and female pseudohermaphroditism. In this study, we examined the genetic variations of NR3C1 in 35 children with sporadic steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS), and in 83 cases with sporadic steroid-sensitive NS (SSNS) using polymerase chain reaction, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography and DNA sequencing, and analyzed possible associations between NR3C1 variants and steroid resistance in sporadic NS. No causative mutations were found; however, six previously identified and six novel polymorphisms, 1206C>T, 1374A>G, 2382C>T, 2193T>G, IVS7-68_-63delAAAAAA, and IVS8-9C>G, were detected. Two novel haplotypes, [1374A>G; IVS7-68_-63delAAAAAA; IVS8-9C>G; 2382C>T] and [1896C>T; 2166C>T; 2430T>C], of NR3C1 were also identified in sporadic NS and controls. The odds ratios (95% Confidence Interval) for the two novel NR3C1 haplotypes in the sporadic nephrotic children at risk of steroid resistance were 4.970 (0.889–27.788) and 2.194 (0.764–6.306), respectively, but the association between NR3C1 haplotypes and steroid resistance was not significant. Further studies on the possible association between the two novel NR3C1 haplotypes and steroid resistance in sporadic NS in larger cohorts are required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two series of pentacyclic dihydroxyterpene carboxylic acid derivatives were synthesized via introduction of saturated nitrogen heterocycle segments (i.e. 1-DNJ and piperazines) at C28 site in MA and CA. Some of the compounds exhibited a better α-glucosidase inhibitory activity than those of precursors and positive compound (acarbose) in the DMSO measurement system. Simultaneously, kinetics study and molecule docking were carried on the active compounds. • MA / CA coupled with 1-deoxynojirimycin (or piperazines) were synthesized. • α-Glucosidase inhibitory activities of the derivatives were evaluated in vitro. • Eight derivatives presented higher inhibitory activity than that of precursors. • Compound 12b exhibited a better inhibitory than that of precursors and acarbose. Combining two bioactive moieties by covalent bond into a novel single hybrid biological entity in view of the principle of active splicing, twenty-two C28-modified derivatives of pentacyclic dihydroxytriterpene carboxylic acids with saturated nitrogen heterocycle segments (i.e. 1-deoxynojirimycin or piperazines) have been synthesized. The inhibitory activities of all final target compounds on α-glucosidase were evaluated in vitro. The results of α-glucosidase inhibition assay indicate that some derivatives (e.g. 4b : IC 50 = 1468.4 µM; 12b : IC 50 = 499.6 µM 12c : IC 50 = 768.5 µM, 13c : IC 50 = 819.2 µM) show superior inhibitory activity in α-glucosidase than that of the precursor maslinic acid (IC 50 = 2540.6 µM) or corosolic acid (IC 50 = 1363.7 µM), in which compound 12b (IC 50 = 499.6 µM) possesses stronger inhibitory activity than that of acarbose (IC 50 = 606 µM). In addition, the result of enzyme kinetics study reveals that the inhibitory mechanism of the compound 12b is non-competitive inhibition and the inhibition constant K i is 570 µM. The binding interaction between compounds with α-glucosidase are predicted by molecular docking simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]