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Patients with autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBDs) are considered to be immunocompromised and, consequently, they may be more susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection and have poorer outcomes. However, the risk and repercussions of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in patients with AIBDs have not been fully understood. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the risk factors of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and the impact of SARS‐CoV‐2 on patients with AIBDs. From December 2022 to January 2023, all patients with AIBDs who visited our clinic were enrolled in this study. Meanwhile, web‐based questionnaires and telesurveys were used as supplements. Information about patients' demographics, comorbidities, SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, and vaccination, as well as AIBD status and treatments were collected and analyzed. The diagnosis of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection was based on a positive polymerase chain reaction test, and/or an antigen test, or the presence of typical symptoms in conjunction with an epidemiological history. Finally, 95 patients with AIBDs were enrolled, including 47 cases of pemphigus and 48 cases of pemphigoid cases, and 73 had symptoms consistent with coronavirus disease 2019. Common symptoms after SARS‐CoV‐2 infection were fever (80.8%), fatigue (75.0%), cough (71.2%), muscle/joint pain (49.3%), and sore throat (45.2%). No significant differences were found between SARS‐CoV‐2–infected and asymptomatic patients. Patients who had hypertension (p = 0.034), hyperlipidemia (p = 0.017), or more than two comorbidities (p = 0.011) were more likely to develop pneumonia after infection. Patients with pemphigus who did not achieve disease control (p = 0.045) or had an oral corticosteroid dose ≥15 mg/day (p = 0.024) and patients with pemphigoid with a disease duration ≥2 years (p = 0.037) were more prone to AIBDs aggravation. In conclusion, patients with AIBDs are generally susceptible to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Individuals with newly diagnosed AIBDs, uncontrolled disease, and a higher corticosteroid dose are more susceptible to disease exacerbation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Brain metastases occur in approximately 10%- 20% of patients with advanced breast cancer. In recent years, with the rapid progress of systemic treatment, extracranial lesions have been effectively controlled and the survival time of patients with breast cancer have been prolonged. Thus the possibility of developing brain metastases has been increased. Moreover, advances in modern diagnostic imaging technology and the routine surveillance of cancer patients have increased the detection rate of brain lesions. Based on the above two aspects, the breast cancer brain metastases (BCBM) have become increasingly common in the clinical settings. Because many chemotherapeutic drugs can not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, the patients with brain metastases have less treatment options, worse survival outcomes and lower quality of life. This article focuses on the recent advances in systemic treatment for BCBM, aiming to provide reference for basic research and clinical practices of this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the energy efficiency of composite nano-metal materials, the energetic intermolecular complexes Si@PVDF/CL-20 with different silicon content (20%, 30% and 40%)were prepared by electrostatic spray method. The heat of combustion of PVDF/CL-20 composites with different ratios was obtained by bomb calorimeter. The morphology of PVDF/CL-20 composite was clarified by using SEM. The effect of Si content on the morphology of Si@PVDF/CL-20 composite particles was also analyzed. The thermal behavior of energetic compounds with different silicon content was studied by DSC-TG, and the kinetic paramters of thermal decomposition were calculated. The thermal analyses indicate that when the PVDF/ CL-20 mass ratio is 1-6, the heat of combustion reaches a maximum value, which can be used as the optimal ratio incoating of nano-Si powder. The SEM results show that when the silicon content is 30%, the composite particles (Si-30% ©PVDF/CL-20) exhibite the best sphericity. The DSC results show that when the silicon content is 20%, a runaway chemical reaction was likely occurred. The effect of Si powder on the decomposition of PVDF/CL-20 composite plays less significant role with the increase of content. The apparent activation energies of Si@PVDF/CL-20 composites calculated by Friedman method are 470. 6, 182.1, 91.7kJ/mol, respectively. The complex decomposition process of Si-20% @PVDF/CL-20 cannot be described by a single kinetic model, whereas those of Si-30% ©PVDF/CL-20 and Si-40% ©PVDF/CL-20 can be well described by a nuclea-tion and growth model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insect exoskeleton is mainly composed of chitin filaments linked by cuticle proteins. When insects molt, the cuticle of the exoskeleton is renewed by degrading the old chitin and cuticle proteins and synthesizing new ones. In this study, chitin-binding activity of the wing disc cuticle protein BmWCP4 in Bombyx mori was studied. Sequence analysis showed that the protein had a conservative hydrophilic 'R&R' chitin-binding domain (CBD). Western blotting showed that BmWCP4 was predominately expressed in the wing disc-containing epidermis during the late wandering and early pupal stages. The immunohistochemistry result showed that the BmWCP4 was mainly present in the wing disc tissues containing wing bud and trachea blast during day 2 of wandering stage. Recombinant full-length BmWCP4 protein, 'R&R' CBD peptide (CBD), non-CBD peptide (BmWCP4-CBD−), four single site-directed mutated peptides (M1, M2, M3 and M4) and four-sites-mutated peptide (MF) were generated and purified, respectively, for in vitro chitin-binding assay. The results indicated that both the full-length protein and the 'R&R' CBD peptide could bind with chitin, whereas the BmWCP4-CBD− could not bind with chitin. The single residue mutants M1, M2, M3 and M4 reduced but did not completely abolish the chitin-binding activity, while four-sites-mutated protein MF completely lost the chitin-binding activity. These data indicate that BmWCP4 protein plays a critical role by binding to the chitin filaments in the wing during larva-to-pupa transformation. The conserved aromatic amino acids are critical in the interaction between chitin and the cuticle protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]