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To investigate the preventive effect of Volvariella volvacea fruit body polypeptides (VVFP) on acute alcoholic liver injury in mice and its influence on the intestinal microbiota, VVFP (1–3 kDa molecular mass) which had been previously obtained by our laboratory was given by gavage to mice. The mice were randomly divided into six groups: blank control, model, positive control, low-dose VVFP, moderate-dose VVFP and high-dose VVFP. Serum indexes, liver indexes and histopathological sections were compared among these groups, and 16S rDNA gene high-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the diversity of the intestinal microflora and the relative abundance at the phyla and genus levels in each sample. Results showed that VVFP significantly reduced the levels of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity in the serum and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the liver, and decreased the levels of the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), and significantly increased the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) in the liver. The 16S rRNA sequencing showed that VVFP significantly reduced the α-diversity indices Chao1 and observed species, increased the Shannon index, and regulated the abundance of Bacteroides, Firmicutes, Streptomyces, Lactobacillus and Vibrio, thereby reducing liver damage. In conclusion, VVFP can reduce alcoholic liver injury, which will provide a theoretical basis for the application of VVFP in the field of functional foods.

A UPLC-MS/MS method was developed for simultaneous determination of 7 whitening ingredients: nicotinamide, kojic acid, Tranexamic acid, raspberry glycoside, azelaic acid, magnesium ascorbate phosphate and β-Arbutin in cosmetics. The whitening active components were extracted from cosmetics by supersonic extraction with sodium chloride and dichloromethane to disperse the sample, and supersonic extraction with 0.015 mol/L potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution purified by HLB solid phase extraction column, scanned and detected by electrospray ionization source with positive and negative ion alternate scanning mode and multiple reaction monitoring mode. The results showed that the whitening active ingredients were separated within 3 minutes, with a good linear relationship (R>0.999), and the detection limit was 0.10mg/kg~0.75mg/kg. The recoveries (n=6) were 78.84%-104.85%, and the RSDs were 0.24%-11.35%. This method is suitable for the rapid determination of whitening active ingredients in cosmetics.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic, which is induced by infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are susceptible to infections due to the chronic use of immunosuppressive drugs and the autoimmune disorders. Now we report a case of SLE infected with SARS-CoV-2, influenza A virus and Mycoplasma pneumoniae concurrently. The patient used hydroxychloroquine and prednisone chronically to control the SLE. After infection of SARS-CoV-2, she was given higher dose of prednisone than before and the same dosage of hydroxychloroquine. Besides, some empirical treatments such as antiviral, antibiotic and immunity regulating therapies were also given. The patient finally recovered from COVID-19. This case indicated that hydroxychloroquine may not be able to fully protect SLE patient form SARS-CoV-2. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapies and increased dose of corticosteroids might be adoptable for patient with both COVID-19 and SLE. Physicians should consider SARS-CoV-2 virus test when SLE patient presented with suspected infection or SLE flare under the epidemic of COVID-19.

The tritium breeding blanket (TBB) technology is one of the key technologies to be solved and also one of three major issues in the development of fusion reactor in the future. The international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) will be the first nuclear fusion experimental reactor in the world whilst ITER test blanket module (TBM) program is the only way to test and validate the tritium breeding blanket technologies under a real fusion environment at present. The successful implementation of ITER TBM program will provide a solid scientific and engineering foundation for fusion energy development. This paper briefly introduces the content, necessity, strategy, organizing and implementation of ITER TBM program, and summarizes the development status and achievement of test blanket system (TBS) made by the participants of ITER members. Prospects of the TBS research activities for the next phase and subsequent research focuses are presented. It is expected to provide valuable references for tritium breeding blanket design and development of China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR), as well as the development of the TBB technologies.