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COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection severely threatens global health and economic development. No effective antiviral drug is currently available to treat COVID-19 and any other human coronavirus infections. We report herein that a macrolide antibiotic, carrimycin, potently inhibited the cytopathic effects (CPE) and reduced the levels of viral protein and RNA in multiple cell types infected by human coronavirus 229E, OC43, and SARS-CoV-2. Time-of-addition and pseudotype virus infection studies indicated that carrimycin inhibited one or multiple post-entry replication events of human coronavirus infection. In support of this notion, metabolic labelling studies showed that carrimycin significantly inhibited the synthesis of viral RNA. Our studies thus strongly suggest that carrimycin is an antiviral agent against a broad-spectrum of human coronaviruses and its therapeutic efficacy to COVID-19 is currently under clinical investigation.

High maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE

Integrins, a group of heterodimer receptors for cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion, mediate various intracellular activities, including cell migration, polarity, survival, growth, and death. Multiple types of integrins are differentially expressed in various cancers during different stages of progression, which are involved in the regulation of cancer cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. The crucial roles of integrins in tumor progression provide valuable clues for cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy. Numerous integrin inhibitors have been investigated in clinical trials to explore effective regimens and minimize side effects. Given the complexity of the integrin-mediated tumor-promoting effect, challenges and difficulties remain in the research and development of integrin inhibitors, which seriously restrict the efficacy and application of integrin-targeted therapy. Novel targeted therapy of integrins, however, is beneficial for patients as a potential avenue forward, which needs better pharmacological effect, valid experimental models, and in-depth understanding of integrins. This review provides the insight needed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying cancer progression and novel protocols for the clinical treatment of cancer.

Background Previous studies have indicated that the ratio of lactate/albumin (L/A) has predictive value for the prognosis of critically ill patients with heart failure. Some studies have also indicated that a low serum bicarbonate concentration is inversely related to the mortality risk of patients with cardiogenic shock. However, the value of bicarbonate and the L/A ratio for predicting the mortality risk of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is still unclear. We therefore conducted a retrospective study to research this problem. Methods The subjects of this study were patients with AMI, and the data source was the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database. The primary endpoint was 30-day all-cause mortality after admission. The Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the predictive value of L/A ratio, lactate and albumin for end-point events. The effects of different L/A ratio levels and different bicarbonate concentrations on 7-day and 30-day all-cause mortality were compared using Kaplan–Meier (K-M) curves. Hazard ratios for different L/A ratio and different bicarbonate concentrations were investigated using COX proportional hazards models. Results The Area Under Curve (AUC) of L/A ratio, lactate, and albumin were 0.736, 0.718, and 0.620, respectively. (1) L/A ratio: The patients were divided into three groups according to their L/A ratio: tertile T1 (L/A ratio ≤ 0.47), tertile T2 (L/A ratio ≤ 0.97), and tertile T3 (L/A ratio > 0.97). The T2 and T3 groups had higher 30-day all-cause mortality risks than the T1 group. The restricted cubic spline (RCS) model indicated that there was a nonlinear relationship between L/A ratio and 30-day mortality (P 27 mmol/L). The G2 and G3 groups had higher 30-day all-cause mortality risks than the G1 group. The RCS model indicated that there was a nonlinear relationship between bicarbonate concentration and 30-day mortality (P P Conclusion L/A ratio and bicarbonate concentration and hemoglobin level have predictive value for predicting 30-day mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Boletellus putuoensis N.K. Zeng, Yi Li, Chang Xu, Xu Zhang & J.R. Wang sp. nov. (Figs. 2–5) Fungal Names no.: FN571000 Etymology:—Latin “ putuoensis ”, refers to the holotype locality of Putuo District, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province. Diagnosis:—Differs from other species of Boletellus s. str. by 28S, ITS, TEF1 and RPB2 sequence data and the following morphological features: very small to small fruitbodies, a brownish black, brown to dark brown, tomentose pileus, a stipe densely covered with brownish black scales, and smaller basidiospores without obvious transverse striations on the ridges when observed under a light microscope. Holotype:— CHINA. Zhejiang Province: Zhoushan City, Putuo District, Zhujiajian Island, N29°56ʹ05.14′′, E122°24ʹ13.99′′, elev. 33 m, 14 June 2021, Yi Li 3039 (FHMU6907, holotype). GenBank accession numbers: atp6 = ON 155836, 28 S = ON 166664, ITS = ON 166669, TEF1 = ON 155822, RPB 2 = ON 155834. Description:— Basidiomata very small to small. Pileus 1.5–4 cm diam, subhemispherical when young, then convex to applanate; margin decurved when young, then uplifted; surface dry, tomentose, brownish black (4E2) when young, brown (6E6) to dark brown (6E4) with age; context 0.65–0.75 cm thick in the center of the pileus, white (1A1), turning blue quickly when injured. Hymenophore poroid, adnate to slightly depressed around the apex of stipe; pores about 0.5 mm diam, angular, yellow(1A4), turning blue quickly when injured; tubes 0.6–1 cm in length, yellowish (1A2), turning blue quickly when injured. Stipe 2.9–4.5 × 0.6–1.4 cm, central, subcylindrical, solid; surface dry, brownish yellow when young, densely covered with brownish black (4E2) scales, sometimes beaded with brown latex when young at the base of stipe; context yellowish white (2A1), turning blue quickly when injured; annulus absent; basal mycelium whitish. Odor indistinct. Basidiospores [160/8/4] (9–)9.5–12 × 5–6 μm, Q = 1.67–2.20 (–2.40), Qm = 1.95 ± 0.17, basidiospores (excluding ornamentation) [160/8/4] 8.5–11(–11.5) × 4–5 (–5.5) μm, Q = (1.64–)1.80–2.44 (–2.63), Qm = 2.11 ± 0.22, yellowish brown in KOH, fusiform, with longitudinal or oblique ridges, continuous or rarely interrupted, 5–7 ridges visible in lateral view, united at the apex when young, then cleft, no obvious transverse striations on the ridges observed under light microscope. Basidia 35–40 × 11–14 μm, clavate, thin- to slightly thick-walled (up to 1 μm), 4-spored, hyaline to pale yellow in KOH; sterigmata 3.5–4 μm in length. Cheilocystidia 35–47 × 12.5–16 μm, abundant, fusiform or subfusiform, thin- to slightly thick-walled (up to 1 μm), hyaline in KOH. Pleurocystidia 55–72 × 14–17 μm, subfusiform or fusiform, thin- to slightly thick-walled (up to 1 μm), hyaline to pale yellow in KOH. Pileipellis a trichoderm 200–250 μm thick, composed of hyphae 6–12 µm diam, thin-walled, yellowish brown in KOH; terminal cells 20–23 × 7.5–10 μm, subcylindrical or subclavate, with obtuse apex. Pileal trama made up of hyphae 5–8 μm in diam, slightly thick-walled (up to 1 μm), hyaline to pale yellow in KOH. Stipitipellis a hymeniform layer 600–700 μm thick, composed of slightly thick-walled (up to 1 μm) hyphae, hyaline to pale yellow in KOH, with clavate, subclavate, subfusiform or subcylindrical terminal cells (25–45 × 7–15 μm), and sometimes with clavate, 4-spored basidia. Stipe trama composed of 5–12 μm diam, subcylindrical, thin- to slightly thick-walled (up to 1 μm), yellow in KOH, parallel hyphae. Clamp connections absent in all tissues. Habitat:—Solitary to gregarious on the ground in mixed forests of Castanopsis ssp. and Pinus massoniana Lamb. Known distribution:—Eastern China (Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces) and southern China (Guangdong Province). Additional specimens examined:— CHINA. Zhejiang Province: Zhoushan City, Putuo District, Xuanshan Island, N29°42ʹ43.35′′, E122°12ʹ23.61′′, elev. 41 m, 14 October 2021, Yi Li 4536-3 (FHMU6959), Yi Li 4536-4 (FHMU6960); Haiyan County, Baiyunge, N30°22ʹ03.83′′, E120°50ʹ46.59′′, elev. 178 m, 20 August 2021, J. R . Wang s. n. (FHMU6961). Guangdong Province: Shaoguan City, Renhua County, Danxiashan National Nature Reserve, N25°01ʹ44.72′′, E113°45ʹ58.19′′, elev. 350 m, 4 June 2019, N. K . Zeng 4075 (FHMU3261).

Boletellus putuoensis (Boletaceae, Boletales) from Zhejiang Province, a subtropical region of eastern China, is described as a new species based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence. A detailed description, color photos of fresh basidiomes, and line-drawings of microstructures of the new species are presented as well as comparisons with related species.

Replacing cement and silica fume with glass powder to prepare ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is beneficial to solve the ecological problem in the field of civil engineering, but the technologies of preparation, transportation, pumping, and hardening of UHPC mainly relate to its rheological property. Therefore, this paper studied the influence of glass powder on the rheological properties of UHPC paste by performing the flow and the rheological test. Experimental results showed that when the cement and silica fume partially replaced by glass powder, the UHPC paste appears shear thickening, yield stress, plastic viscosity, and area of hysteresis loop decrease. This means that mixing glass powder can somehow inhibit the problems of segregation and bleeding of UHPC during pumping. In this manner, the dosage of the superplasticizer in UHPC is appropriately reduced, the filling capacity of UHPC during pouring is improved, and the energy required for UHPC in the pumping process is weakened. Compared with replacing cement, replacing silica fume with glass powder significantly increases the shear thickening and fluidity of UHPC paste, and at the same, reduces its yield stress and plastic viscosity. This indicates that the construction performance of UHPC is greatly improved with the replacement of silica fume. The fluidity and yield stress of UHPC paste satisfy the quadratic polynomial function relationship, and the replacement of cement and silica fume with glass powder should be less than 33% and 50%, respectively. Under this condition, the rheological properties of the UHPC paste are greatly improved and result in little negative impact on the mechanical properties of UHPC.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) plays an important role in the viral liver disease progression via controlling viral propagation and mediating inflammation‐associated responses. However, the antiviral activities and mechanisms of TGF‐β isoforms, including TGF‐β1, TGF‐β2 and TGF‐β3, remain unclear. Here, we demonstrated that all of the three TGF‐β isoforms were increased in Huh7.5 cells infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV), but in turn, the elevated TGF‐β isoforms could inhibit HCV propagation with different potency in infectious HCV cell culture system. TGF‐β isoforms suppressed HCV propagation through interrupting several different stages in the whole HCV life cycle, including virus entry and intracellular replication, in TGF‐β/SMAD signalling pathway–dependent and TGF‐β/SMAD signalling pathway–independent manners. TGF‐β isoforms showed additional anti‐HCV activities when combined with each other. However, the elevated TGF‐β1 and TGF‐β2, not TGF‐β3, could also induce liver fibrosis with a high expression of type I collagen alpha‐1 and α‐smooth muscle actin in LX‐2 cells. Our results showed a new insight into TGF‐β isoforms in the HCV‐related liver disease progression.

Methane, as the main component of natural gas, shale gas, and marsh gas, is regarded as an ideal clean energy to replace traditional fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions. Porous materials with superior methane storage capacities are the key to the wide application of adsorbed natural gas technology in vehicle transportation. In this work, we applied a ligand tailoring strategy to a metal-organic framework (NOTT-101) to fine-tune its pore geometry, which was well characterized by gas and dye sorption measurements. High-pressure methane sorption isotherms revealed that the methane storage performance of the modified NOTT-101 can be effectively improved by decreasing the unusable uptake at 5 bar and increasing the total uptake under high pressures, achieving a substantially high volumetric methane storage working capacity of 190 cm

Wine colour is an essential organoleptic property considered by consumers. In this paper, the potential effects on colour characteristics and the content of main phenolic compounds in red wine under microwave irradiation were investigated during wine storage. The results showed that the changing trend of colour characteristics of microwave-treated and untreated wines was very similar. Moreover, total phenolic compounds, total monomeric anthocyanins, main anthocyanins, main flavonoids, and main phenolic acids (gallic acid; caffeic acid; syringic acid; (+)-catechin; Cy-3-glu; Mv-3-glu) also showed similar change trends during storage. In other words, microwave irradiation had a long-term effect on the colour properties and main phenolic compounds of red wine, changes that require long-time aging in traditional processing. In terms of the studied parameters, the changes in microwave-treated wine were faster than those in untreated wine. These results showed that microwave technology, as a promising artificial aging technology, could in a short time produce red wine of similar quality to traditional aging.

doi：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2021.08.015

Interferon lambda-2 (IL28A) has a wide antiviral effect with fewer side-effects. Autophagy is a host mechanism to maintain intracellular homeostasis and defends invasion of pathogenic microorganisms. HCV NS5A can disable host defense systems to support HCV replication. Thus, molecular mechanism of interaction among interferon lambda, autophagy, and HCV was concerned and explored in this study. We report that HCV NS5A activated an incomplete autophagy by promoting the autophagic ubiquitylation-like enzymes ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, ATG10, and autophagosome maker LC3B, but blocked autophagy flux; IL28A bound to NS5A at NS5A-ISDR region, and degraded HCV-NS5A by promoting autolysosome formations in HepG2 cells. A software prediction of IL28A protein conformation indicated a potential structure of IL28A homotetramer; the first α-helix of IL28A locates in the interfaces among the four IL28A chains to maintain IL28A homotetrameric conformation. Co-IP and cell immunofluorescence experiments with sequential deletion mutants demonstrate that IL28A preferred a homotetramer conformation to a monomer in the cells; the IL28A homotetramer is positively correlated with autolysosomal degradation of HCV NS5A and the other HCV proteins. Summarily, the first α-helix of IL28A protein is the key domain for maintaining IL28A homotetramer which is required for promoting formation of autolysosomes and degradation of HCV proteins in vitro.

Oyster mushroom spherical virus (OMSV) is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA mycovirus which is associated with a devastating oyster mushroom die-back disease. However, little is known about its diversity, and the effects of OMSV infection on its fungal host are not well understood. In this study, we determined the nearly complete nucleotide sequence of OMSV isolated from cultivated oyster mushrooms in China. Sequence analysis suggested that the virus represents a new strain of OMSV (referred to here as OMSV-Ch). A GenBank BLAST search of the genomic sequences demonstrated that the OMSV-Ch had the highest identity (74.9%) with the OMSV from Korea (OMSV-Kr). At the amino acid-sequence level, these two strains shared 84.1% identity in putative replication protein (RP) and 94.1% identity in coat protein (CP). Phylogenetic analysis based on RP showed that OMSV-Ch clustered with OMSV-Kr, closely related to

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), ranging from simple steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is a liver disease worldwide without approved therapeutic drugs. Anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective drug bicyclol and multi-pharmacological active drug berberine, respectively, have shown beneficial effects on NAFLD in murine nutritional models and patients, though the therapeutic mechanisms remain to be illustrated. Here, we investigated the combined effects of bicyclol and berberine on mouse steatosis induced by Western diet (WD), and NASH induced by WD/CCl4. The combined use of these was rather safe and better reduced the levels of transaminase in serum and triglycerides and cholesterol in the liver than their respective monotherapy, accompanied with more significantly attenuating hepatic inflammation, steatosis, and ballooning in mice with steatosis and NASH. The combined therapy also significantly inhibited fibrogenesis, characterized by the decreased hepatic collagen deposition and fibrotic surface. As per mechanism, bicyclol enhanced lipolysis and β-oxidation through restoring the p62-Nrf2-CES2 signaling axis and p62-Nrf2-PPARα signaling axis, respectively, while berberine suppressed de novo lipogenesis through downregulating the expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthetase, along with enrichment of lipid metabolism-related Bacteroidaceae (family) and Bacteroides (genus). Of note, the combined use of bicyclol and berberine did not influence each other but enhanced the overall therapeutic role in the amelioration of NAFLD. Conclusion: Combined use of bicyclol and berberine might be a new available strategy to treat NAFLD.