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Background There is a raising concern of a higher infectious Omicron BA.2 variant and the latest BA.4, BA.5 variant, made it more difficult in the mitigation process against COVID-19 pandemic. Our study aimed to find optimal control strategies by transmission of dynamic model from novel invasion theory. Methods Based on the public data sources from January 31 to May 31, 2022, in four cities (Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou) of China. We segmented the theoretical curves into five phases based on the concept of biological invasion. Then, a spatial autocorrelation analysis was carried out by detecting the clustering of the studied areas. After that, we choose a mathematical model of COVID-19 based on system dynamics methodology to simulate numerous intervention measures scenarios. Finally, we have used publicly available migration data to calculate spillover risk. Results Epidemics in Shanghai and Shenzhen has gone through the entire invasion phases, whereas Nanjing and Suzhou were all ended in the establishment phase. The results indicated that Rt value and public health and social measures (PHSM)-index of the epidemics were a negative correlation in all cities, except Shenzhen. The intervention has come into effect in different phases of invasion in all studied cities. Until the May 31, most of the spillover risk in Shanghai remained above the spillover risk threshold (18.81–303.84) and the actual number of the spillovers (0.94–74.98) was also increasing along with the time. Shenzhen reported Omicron cases that was only above the spillover risk threshold (17.92) at the phase of outbreak, consistent with an actual partial spillover. In Nanjing and Suzhou, the actual number of reported cases did not exceed the spillover alert value. Conclusions Biological invasion is positioned to contribute substantively to understanding the drivers and mechanisms of the COVID-19 spread and outbreaks. After evaluating the spillover risk of cities at each invasion phase, we found the dynamic zero-COVID strategy implemented in four cities successfully curb the disease epidemic peak of the Omicron variant, which was highly correlated to the way to perform public health and social measures in the early phases right after the invasion of the virus. Graphical Abstract

Background Fasciolopsis buski is a zoonotic intestinal fluke infecting humans and pigs, but it has been seriously neglected. It is yet to know whether there is any genetic diversity among F. buski from different geographical locations, particularly in sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA. Therefore, we determined the sequences of partial 18S, the complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA and the complete mt genome of F. buski from China, compared the rDNA and mtDNA sequences with those of isolates from India and Vietnam, and assessed the phylogenetic relationships of this fluke and related fasciolid trematodes based on the mtDNA dataset. Results The complete mt genome sequence of F. buski from China is 14,833 bp, with 36 genes, including 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes (rrnL and rrnS). The AT content of F. buski from China is 65.12%. The gene content and arrangement of the F. buski mt genome is similar to that of Fascioloides magna. Genetic distances between isolates of F. buski from China and India were high (28.2% in mtDNA, 13.2% in ITS-1 and 9.8% in ITS-2) and distinctly higher than the interspecific differences between Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The rDNA and mtDNA datasets for F. buski from China (isolate from pigs) and Vietnam (isolates from humans) were identical. The intergeneric differences in amino acid and nucleotide sequences among the genera Fasciolopsis, Fascioloides and Fasciola ranged between 24.64–25.56% and 26.35–28.46%, respectively. Conclusions Our results indicate that F. buski from China and India may represent distinct taxa, while F. buski in Vietnam and China represent the same species. These findings might have implications for the implementation of appropriate control strategies in different regions. Further studies are needed to decode mtDNA and rDNA sequences of F. buski from various geographical isolates for the better understanding of the species complex of F. buski. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2039-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The aim of this study was to study the relation between histopathological classification of gastric carcinoma and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. 200 patients with confirmed gastric carcinoma between January 2010 and January 2012 from our hospital were included. All these patients went through endoscopy and histological examinations for gastric carcinoma and immunological test for H. pylori infection. Patients were grouped according to the histological classification, and the infection rates of H. pylori in different groups were compared. Types of gastric cancer that was closely related to H. pylori infection were identified. Infection rate in patients with the intestinal type of gastric cancer was significantly higher compared to those with the diffuse type. For tubular type of carcinoma, the well to medium-differentiated group had a significantly higher infection rate than the poorly differentiated group. Helicobacter pylori infection and histological types were relevant. The effect of H. pylori infection on the intestinal type was more significant than that on the diffuse type. The infection rate of well-differentiated group was higher than that of the poorly differentiated group, which suggested an association between H. pylori infection and the degree of differentiation of tubular cancerous tissue.

We have read with great interest the article ‘‘Three common TP53 polymorphisms in susceptibility to breast cancer: evidence from meta-analysis’’ published in April 2010 issue of ‘‘Breast Cancer Research and Treatment’’ [1]. The results suggest that IVS3 16 bp Del/Ins is likely an important genetic marker contributing to the susceptibility of breast cancer, and codon 72 has a potential role in the association with breast cancer risk within certain populations or regions. Thus, some methodological issues need to be addressed concerning the data provided in the meta-analysis by Hu et al. [1]. We would like to comment and raise some concerns. The minor variants of IVS3 16 bp (rs17878362) polymorphism in the cases and controls were three and one, respectively [2]. However, a small number of subjects do not always indicate that they are minor variants in the meta-analysis. The data reported by Hu et al. [1] for the study did not seem in accordance with the data provided by Weston et al. [2] in their original publication. The numbers reported by Hu et al. [1] for RR, RP, and PP of codon 72 (rs1042522) polymorphism in the cases and controls were 32-27-6 and 72-42-3. Interestingly enough, after carefully studying the data presented by Weston et al. [2], the frequencies we retrieved were 6-27-32 and 3-42-72, which corresponded to the genotypes of 1-1, 1-2, and 2-2 [2]. In Weston’s research, the minor variants data were 32 and 72, indicating the large number of subjects. Similarly, the numbers reported by Hu et al. [1] for GG, GA, and AA of IVS6 ? 62A[G (rs1625895) polymorphism in the cases and controls were 43-20-2 and 95-22-0. The frequencies corresponding to the genotypes of 1-1, 1-2, and 2-2 [2] were 2-20-43 and 0-22-95. We can conclude that a small number of subjects do not always indicate that they are minor variants data for inclusion in a pooled analysis. Hu et al. [1] confused the original data and made the results not entirely credible. Thus, the odds ratio and the 95% confidence interval for codon 72 (rs1042522) and IVS6 ? 62A[G (rs1625895) polymorphisms in the metaanalysis significantly differed from those calculated by the original data of Weston’s research [2]. It would be valuable if the authors could provide a new and more accurate estimation of the pooled odds ratio after considering our comment. More importantly, the research by Weston et al. [2] was a nested case–control study involving 182 Caucasians, 56 Hispanics, and 46 African-Americans. This implies that the genotypes of 1-1, 1-2, and 2-2 by Hu et al. [1] were only subjects for Caucasians. The genotypes of 56 Hispanics and 46 African-Americans were not included even if they Pei-Hua Lu, Min-Bin Chen and Mu-Xin Wei contributed equally to this work and should be considered as co-first authors.

The shear viscoelastic properties of an LDPE (1I2A-1) melt at 160 °C were described by using two KBKZ integral type constitutive equations, i.e. Wagner model and the three- parameter rational type model. The present characterizations were compared with the previous calculations by using PSM model. The results show that there are differences between the descriptions on the stress relaxation property in step strain and the first normal stress difference for the three models, and however, all the three models show the almost same predictions on the shear-thinning viscosity of the ldpe melt. Both Wagner model and PSM model are good choice in describing the rheological properties of the melt due to theirs simplicity. The Tanner theory combined with the Wagner model or the three-parameter rational type model was used to predict the swell ratio of the LDPE melt through a long capillary die, which was also compared with the experimental results and the previous calculations on swell. The predictions by Tanner theory combined with the three different constitutive models on the swell ratio of the LDPE melt are similar, which are apparently lower than the experiments and numerical simulations over the whole experimental shear rate range. The results further indicate that Tanner theory cannot predict the swell ratio of the LDPE melt precisely.

Trinucleotide repeat containing 9 (TNRC9) is a gene located at chromosome 16q12. Although of an uncertain function, it is a newly described risk factor for breast cancer. It contains a putative high-mobility group box motif, suggesting its possible role as transcription factor; it has been implicated in breast cancer metastasis. Published studies on the association between TNRC9 polymorphisms and breast cancer risk remain inconclusive, and a meta-analysis is required to verify the association. This pioneering research performed a meta-analysis of eight studies comprising a total of 25,828 cases and 36,177 controls. Significantly elevated breast cancer risk was associated with TNRC9 rs3803662 polymorphism when all studies were pooled in the meta-analysis (T vs. C allele contrast model: OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.09-1.28; TT vs. CC homozygote codominant model: OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.02-1.55; TT vs. CC+CT recessive model: OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.42). For TNRC9 rs12443621 polymorphism, no significant association was detected in all genetic models. For TNRC9 rs12443621 polymorphism, meanwhile, no significant association was observed in all comparison models. Conclusively, this meta-analysis suggests that TNRC9 rs3803662 polymorphism was significantly correlated with breast cancer risk and the variant T allele of TNRC9 rs3803662 polymorphism is a low-penetrant risk factor for developing breast cancer. There is no significant association between TNRC9 rs12443621 and rs8051542 polymorphisms and risk of breast cancer in current literature.

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) occurs in two bioactive forms, PACAP-38 and PACAP-27 that have identical N-terminal sequences but differ by the presence of a C-terminal 11 residue elongation in the former. Although VIP and PACAP have several similar biological actions due to their amino acid sequence similarity, we have found that they evoke opposite responses in the guinea pig gallbladder smooth muscle, where PACAP induces contraction while VIP causes relaxation. In addition the response to PACAP-38 is four times lower than that of PACAP-27. In a previous study we have reported the role of the N-terminal α-helical regions of PACAP-27 which play a key role in gallbladder contraction. In the present study the biological action on the guinea pig gallbladder was investigated using a synthetic mini-library of C-terminally deleted peptides related to PACAP-38. The effects caused by residues within the C-terminus are not a result of a response via the M-receptor or Na+ channel, but most likely arise from a delicate balance between the differential effects of PACAP-38 on specific PAC1 and VPACs receptors.