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Background: Chorioamnionitis is associated with an increased risk of multiple adverse outcomes in offspring, especially neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which is one of the serious gastrointestinal diseases in neonates. However, the underlying mechanism remains undefined. We hypothesize that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chorioamnionitis causes intestinal injury in offspring, thereby affecting the composition of the intestinal microbiome.Methods: Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were received intraperitoneal injections with 700 μg/kg Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or saline at 15 days of gestation. Pups were allowed to deliver naturally, and euthanized at days 0,3 and 7 after birth. Intestinal tissue and faeces samples from offspring were collected to evaluate the effects of intrauterine infection on intestinal flora colonization and intestinal mucosal development. Results: Significant intestinal injury of the offspring induced by prenatal LPS exposure was observed at day 0 and 3 after birth.. In addition, prenatal LPS exposure also induced significant changes in the intestinal microbiome of the offspring with a significant increase in Proteobacteria (Escherichia-Shigella) and a decrease in Firmicutes at 7 days after birth . Conclusions: Thus, our findings suggest that LPS-induced chorioamnionitis induces intestinal injury in offspring and subsequently leads to NEC-like changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiome.

Risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among close contacts of infected persons has not been well estimated. This study evaluates the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among a prospective cohort of 3410 close contacts in China exposed to 391 persons with COVID-19 infection according to different settings of exposure., Visual Abstract. Contact Settings and Transmission Risk in Close Contacts of Patients With COVID-19 Risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among close contacts of infected persons has not been well estimated. This study evaluates the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among a prospective cohort of 3410 close contacts in China exposed to 391 persons with COVID-19 infection according to different settings of exposure. Visual Abstract. Contact Settings and Transmission Risk in Close Contacts of Patients With COVID-19 Risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among close contacts of infected persons has not been well estimated. This study evaluates the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among a prospective cohort of 3410 close contacts in China exposed to 391 persons with COVID-19 infection according to different settings of exposure., Background: Risk for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to close contacts of infected persons has not been well estimated. Objective: To evaluate the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to close contacts in different settings. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Close contacts of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Guangzhou, China. Participants: 3410 close contacts of 391 index cases were traced between 13 January and 6 March 2020. Data on the setting of the exposure, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction testing, and clinical characteristics of index and secondary cases were collected. Measurement: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were confirmed by guidelines issued by China. Secondary attack rates in different settings were calculated. Results: Among 3410 close contacts, 127 (3.7% [95% CI, 3.1% to 4.4%]) were secondarily infected. Of these 127 persons, 8 (6.3% [CI, 2.1% to 10.5%]) were asymptomatic. Of the 119 symptomatic cases, 20 (16.8%) were defined as mild, 87 (73.1%) as moderate, and 12 (10.1%) as severe or critical. Compared with the household setting (10.3%), the secondary attack rate was lower for exposures in healthcare settings (1.0%; odds ratio [OR], 0.09 [CI, 0.04 to 0.20]) and on public transportation (0.1%; OR, 0.01 [CI, 0.00 to 0.08]). The secondary attack rate increased with the severity of index cases, from 0.3% (CI, 0.0 to 1.0%) for asymptomatic to 3.3% (CI, 1.8% to 4.8%) for mild, 5.6% (CI, 4.4% to 6.8%) for moderate, and 6.2% (CI, 3.2% to 9.1%) for severe or critical cases. Index cases with expectoration were associated with higher risk for secondary infection (13.6% vs. 3.0% for index cases without expectoration; OR, 4.81 [CI, 3.35 to 6.93]). Limitation: There was potential recall bias regarding symptom onset among patients with COVID-19, and the symptoms and severity of index cases were not assessed at the time of exposure to contacts. Conclusion: Household contact was the main setting for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among close contacts increased with the severity of index cases. Primary Funding Source: Guangdong Province Higher Vocational Colleges and Schools Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme.

Anthocyanin biosynthesis is one of the best studied secondary metabolisms. However, related pathways were generally concluded based on anthocyanin components; most studies focused on the backbone forming of anthocyanidins (cyanidin, delphinidin, and pelargonidin) of model or commercial plants, while anthocyanin modification was less discussed, and non-model plants with abundant colorations were less researched either. Ranunculus asiaticus L. has great diversity in flower colorations, not only indicating its value in researching anthocyanin biosynthesis but also implying it is unique in this regard. Based on transcriptome sequencing and gene annotation of three varieties (10 samples) of Ranunculus asiaticus L., 176 unigenes from 151,136 unigenes were identified as involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis, among which, 74 unigenes were related to anthocyanin modification; 61 unigenes were responsible for glycosylation at C3 and C5 with 3-monosaccharides of glucose, 3-biosides of rutinose, sophorose, or sambubiose to form 3Gly-, 3Gly5Gly-, 3Gly3'Gly-, 3Gly2''Gly-, 3Gly2''Xly-, 3Gly2''Rly-glycosylated anthocyanins, etc.; 2 unigenes transferred -CH3; 11 unigenes of BAHD family catalyzd the aromatic or malonyl acylation at 6'' / 6''''position of 3/5-O-glucoside. Based on gene composition, a putative pathway was established. The pathway was validated by flower colorations, and gene expression patterns where F3H, F3'H, 3GT, 5GT, and FMT2 were highly expressed in varieties colored as lateritious and carmine, while variety with purple flowers had high expression of F3'5'H and 3MAT. In view of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway of Ranunculus asiaticus L., great diversity in its flower colorations was illustrated via the complete branches (F3H, F3'H and F3'5'H) as well as complete modifications (glycosylation, methylation, and acylation), and besides, via the higher percentage of C3 glycosylation than C5 glycosylation.

The effects of exposure to exogenous elements on human health have attracted particular attention. Quantification knowledge of zirconium (Zr) is rather valuable for comprehensive assessments of the biological reactions triggered by a long term presence of the widely used Zr-contained biomedical devices such as prostheses, implants and orthodontic materials. Herein, we reported the first example of the application of cloud point extraction (CPE) couple with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for enrichment and quantification of trace Zr in complex biological samples. The phase separation of CPE was handy without traditional operation like centrifugation and careful pipetting, facilitating high-throughput analysis. Good anti-interference ability against other interference metal ions and outstanding sensitivity with the low detection limit of 0.055 ng·mL−1 were achieved. The satisfactory intra-day and inter-day precisions for low, middle, high concentration levels of Zr were 1.7%–4.2% and 2.0%–6.1%, with the corresponding relative error of 0.1%–7.2% and 0.2%–2.8%, respectively. For practical application, this simple, sensitive and reliable method was applied for enrichment and analysis of trace Zr in rat livers, kidneys and urine. Consequently, trace Zr could be actually detected. Good recoveries of the samples were obtained in the range of 91.0%–118% with the corresponding RSDs (n = 3) of 2.4%–10%.

Hirudin has a great potential in inhibiting thrombin, and its antithrombin activity has direct bearing on its clinical application. Using bovine alpha-thrombin and recombinant hirudin of Poecilobdella javanica purified from Phichia pastoris as materials, this study introduced a novel method to testing antithrombin activity of hirudin visually and dynamically by tracking the binding of hirudin to thrombin. After incubating the mixture of thrombin and hirudin at 37 °C for 5 min, the binding of hirudin to thrombin was cross-linked by bis[sulfosuccinimidyl] suberate for 30 min and visualized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. With the aid of image analysis on the basis of INRA-Noésis E1D analysis software, antithrombin activity of hirudin was calculated through intensity variations of protein bands of either thrombin-hirudin compound, unbound thrombin, or unbound hirudin. In this regard, activity of the given hirudin was tested to be 5625 ATU/mg based on a single reaction, and 5675.3 ATU/mg based on a series of reactions in a stepwise manner, close to the result of 6000 ATU/mg concluded by titration method. The superiorities of the method include good accuracy (the minimum testable concentration of hirudin is 1.5 μg/ml) and little sample consumption (sample consumption of hirudin is generally 1-11.5 μl using the apparatus of Mini Protean 3 Cell). Easy operation, low input, and equipment requirement also grant it as an effective way.

PVP (Plant Variety Protection) has been playing an increasingly important role in social development, and it has attracted great attentions worldwide. The rapid growth in PVP has placed mounting pressure on the selection of similar varieties used in PVP examination, or DUS test. Such situation makes the traditional way of similar variety selection relying on manual work in trouble. Information System of Varieties of Common Knowledge was proposed in this paper with the aim of improving the accuracy and efficiency of PVP examination and sorting out all kinds of information of plant varieties. The framework, management, maintenance and function of this System was introduced, and the application of this System in the selection of similar varieties was also illustrated in this paper. Based on this System, selection of similar varieties can be standardized, simplified, and independent of subjective judgment from PVP examiners. The information of plant varieties can be managed as well.

According to the basic knowledge of cellular neural network theory, this paper presents an application in image encryption algorithm. The encryption algorithm is mainly using the hyperchaotic property of cellular neural network, Lyapunov exponent has two is positive, from 7 dimension of neural network chaotic system is chosen as source key variables, based on Application of logistic map produce Logistic chaotic sequence, so that it can make the image pixel scrambling, so as to achieve the purpose of image encryption. Using MATLAB software, programming simulation. Results show that, the seven dimensional cellular neural network super mixed characteristics of chaos encryption Algorithm to make the image encryption, from the security analysis of the experimental results can also be seen that the encryption algorithm has a good encryption effect, the encrypted image set scrambling degree is high, also has the correlation between adjacent pixels is smaller, anti attack ability is strong, easy to implement, full of higher characteristics. So, it is more convenient to use.

A calculation method of spectral reflectance for camouflage color is proposed.This calculation method is based on the measurement of spectral reflectance for monochrome patches and deduced by equations of luminous flux for monochrome patches.When spectral reflectance of camouflage color patches are calculated,spectral reflectance of monochrome patches and area-ration of every monochrome patch are only needed to obtain.This calculation method is proved to be feasible by comparison experiments.