This study is performed to figure out how the presence of diabetes affects the infection, progression and prognosis of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the effective therapy that can treat the diabetes-complicated patients with COVID-19. A multicentre study was performed in four hospitals. COVID-19 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) or hyperglycaemia were compared with those without these conditions and matched by propensity score matching for their clinical progress and outcome. Totally, 2444 confirmed COVID-19 patients were recruited, from whom 336 had DM. Compared to 1344 non-DM patients with age and sex matched, DM-COVID-19 patients had significantly higher rates of intensive care unit entrance (12.43% vs. 6.58%, P = 0.014), kidney failure (9.20% vs. 4.05%, P = 0.027) and mortality (25.00% vs. 18.15%, P < 0.001). Age and sex-stratified comparison revealed increased susceptibility to COVID-19 only from females with DM. For either non-DM or DM group, hyperglycaemia was associated with adverse outcomes, featured by higher rates of severe pneumonia and mortality, in comparison with non-hyperglycaemia. This was accompanied by significantly altered laboratory indicators including lymphocyte and neutrophil percentage, C-reactive protein and urea nitrogen level, all with correlation coefficients >0.35. Both diabetes and hyperglycaemia were independently associated with adverse prognosis of COVID-19, with hazard ratios of 10.41 and 3.58, respectively.

Athetis lepigone Möschler (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) is a common maize pest in Europe and Asia. However, there is no long-term effective management strategy is available yet to suppress its population. Adults rely heavily on olfactory cues to locate their optimal host plants and oviposition sites. Pheromone-binding proteins (PBPs) are believed to be responsible for recognizing and transporting different odorant molecules to interact with receptor membrane proteins. In this study, the ligand-binding specificities of two AlepPBPs (AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3) for sex pheromone components and host plant (maize) volatiles were measured by fluorescence ligand-binding assay. The results demonstrated that AlepPBP2 had a high affinity with two pheromones [(Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.11 ± 0.1 μM, (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate, Ki = 1.32 ± 0.15 μM] and ten plant volatiles, including (-)-limonene, α-pinene, myrcene, linalool, benzaldehyde, nonanal, 2-hexanone, 3-hexanone, 2-heptanone and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one. In contrast, we found that none of these chemicals could bind to AlepPBP3. Our results clearly show no significant differences in the functional characterization of the binding properties between AlepPBP2 and AlepPBP3 to sex pheromones and host plant volatiles. Furthermore, molecular docking was employed for further detail on some crucial amino acid residues involved in the ligand-binding of AlepPBP2. These findings will provide valuable information about the potential protein binding sites necessary for protein-ligand interactions which appear as attractive targets for the development of novel technologies and management strategies for insect pests.

Extrinsic mortality risks calibrating fast life history (LH) represent a species-general principle that applies to almost all animals including humans. However, empirical research also finds exceptions to the LH principle. The present study proposes a maternal socialization hypothesis, whereby we argue that the more human-relevant attachment system adds to the LH principle by up- and down-regulating environmental harshness and unpredictability and their calibration of LH strategies. Based on a longitudinal sample of 259 rural Chinese adolescents and their primary caregivers, the results support the statistical moderating effect of caregiver–child attachment on the relation between childhood environmental adversities (harshness and unpredictability) and LH strategies. Our theorizing and findings point to an additional mechanism likely involved in the organization and possibly the slowdown of human LH.

Diarrhea caused by pathogens such as enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is a serious threat to the health of young animals and human infants. Here, we investigated the protective effect of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on the intestinal epithelium with ETEC-challenge in a weaned piglet model. Twenty-four weaned piglets were randomly divided into three groups: (1) non-ETEC-challenged control (CON), (2) ETEC-challenged control (ECON), and (3) ETEC challenge + 2.5 g/kg FOS (EFOS). On day 19, the CON pigs were orally infused with sterile culture, while the ECON and EFOS pigs were orally infused with active ETEC (2.5 × 109 colony-forming units). On day 21, pigs were slaughtered to collect venous blood and small intestine. Result showed that the pre-treatment of FOS improved the antioxidant capacity and the integrity of intestinal barrier in the ETEC-challenged pigs without affecting their growth performance. Specifically, comparing with ECON pigs, the level of GSH-Px (glutathione peroxidase) and CAT (catalase) in the plasma and intestinal mucosa of EFOS pigs was increased (P<0.05), and the intestinal barrier marked by ZO-1 and plasmatic DAO was also improved in EFOS pigs. A lower level (P<0.05) of inflammatory cytokines in the intestinal mucosa of EFOS pigs might be involved in the inhibition of TLR4/MYD88/NF-κB pathway. The apoptosis of jejunal cells in EFOS pigs was also lower than that in ECON pigs (P<0.05). Our findings provide convincing evidence of possible prebiotic and protective effect of FOS on the maintenance of intestinal epithelial function under the attack of pathogens.

Celestial navigation is an important means of maritime navigation; it can automatically achieve inertially referenced positioning and orientation after a long period of development. However, the impact of different accuracy of observations and the influence of nonstationary states, such as ship speed change and steering, are not taken into account in existing algorithms. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an adaptively robust maritime celestial navigation algorithm, in which each observation value is given an equivalent weight according to the robust estimation theory, and the dynamic balance between astronomical observation and prediction values of vessel motion is adjusted by applying the adaptive factor. With this system, compared with the frequently used least square method and extended Kalman filter algorithm, not only are the real-time and high-precision navigation parameters, such as position, course, and speed for the vessel, calculated simultaneously, but also the influence of abnormal observation and vessel motion status change could be well suppressed.

We study the asymptotic behaviour of convective heat transfer for turbulent flows in high-porosity fluid-saturated media by two-dimensional high-resolution numerical simulation. The generalized Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible fluid flow and the heat transport equation in porous media at the representative element volume scale are solved by the lattice Boltzmann method, wherein the non-Darcian effects are taken into consideration. The asymptotic behaviour of the Nusselt number $N$ has been revealed for Rayleigh numbers $10^4\leq R\leq 10^{11}$ and Darcy numbers $10^{-6}\leq \xi \leq 10^6$: all the data for various Darcy numbers gradually collapse onto a unique line with increasing Rayleigh number. The asymptote can be well represented by $N=0.146\times R^{0.286}$ for $R>2\times 10^7$, which approaches the relationship for the Rayleigh–Bénard turbulent convection of free fluid flows. The transition can be characterized by a scaling analysis with $R^{}\xi ^{3/2}\sim 1$, below which, however, the data collapse onto the Darcy limit for porous media. The Reynolds number and the Nusselt number both increase with Darcy number above the onset of convection, whereas a premature saturation of the Nusselt number is observed in comparison with that of the Reynolds number. The counter-gradient heat transport by the large-scale flows is quantified, which compensates for the increase of the gradient heat transport with Darcy number. The heat transfer in high-porosity fluid-saturated media with a very small Darcy number $\xi \geq 10^{-6}$ can be comparable to that of free fluid flows for a sufficiently high Rayleigh number $R\geq 10^{11}$.

Giardia duodenalis is a common zoonotic intestinal pathogen. It has been increasingly reported in humans and animals; however, genotyping information for G. duodenalis in captive animals is still limited. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence and multilocus genotyping of G. duodenalis in captive animals in zoological gardens in Shanghai, China. A total of 678 fresh fecal samples were randomly collected from captive animals including non-human primates (NHPs) (n = 190), herbivores (n = 190), carnivores (n = 151), birds (n = 138) and reptiles (n = 9) in a zoo and were examined for the presence of G. duodenalis using nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR). All G. duodenalis positive samples were assayed with PCR followed by sequencing at β-giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) and triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) genes. In this study, 42 specimens (6.2%) were tested G. duodenalis-positive of the 678 fecal samples examined based on a single locus. A total of 30 (4.4%), 30 (4.4%) and 22 (3.2%) specimens were successfully amplified and sequenced at gdh, tpi and bg loci, respectively. Assemblages A and B were identified with assemblage B dominating in NHPs. Sequence analysis demonstrated that one, two and five new isolates were identified at bg, gdh and tpi loci. DNA sequences and new assemblage-subtypes of zoonotic G. duodenalis assemblages A and B were identified in the current study. Our data indicate the occurrence and molecular diversity of G. duodenalis and the potential zoonotic transmission in captive animals in China.

Trailing vortices typically persist into the extreme far-wake where the asymptotic perturbation dominates. In this work, we investigate the mechanism underlying the asymptotic growth of perturbation in trailing vortices by looking into the linear instabilities of two canonical trailing vortex systems, namely an isolated vortex and a co-rotating vortex pair with axial flow, generated by an M6 swept wing without/with winglets in a wind tunnel experiment. The dynamics and wandering phenomena of both vortex configurations are characterized by stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV). Their linear perturbation modes are acquired by local and bi-global linear stability analyses. For the isolated trailing vortex, the dominating perturbation mode is found to be a viscous, unstable Mode-A counter to the vortex rotation ($m>0$), while Mode-A with $m\leqslant 0$ is essentially damped and Mode-P, which is exclusive to $|m|\leqslant 1$, remains marginally stable. For the co-rotating vortex pair, the upper vortex is subject to an unstable, azimuthal perturbation, while the dominating perturbation of the lower vortex is radial. The perturbation mode of the upper vortex is more unstable than that of the lower vortex. The difference is supported by the corresponding wandering amplitude. The dominating modes of the two vortex configurations manifest an identical feature of azimuthal perturbations penetrating the core boundary. The dominating mode overwhelms those centre modes confined within the core. For both vortex configurations, a limiting penetration depth exists, where the perturbation is most amplified asymptotically. The limiting penetration depth is ascribed to the alignment of the critical point with vortex shear. For the isolated vortex, it is the shear layer at the core boundary; for the vortex pair, it is the mutual shear layer of both vortices. The asymptotic growth of perturbations is thus attributed to an interaction between the respective characteristic layers of the perturbation and the flow at the leading order.

X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for N,N-dimethyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-amine, C9H11N3, are reported [a = 11.379(3) Å, b = 10.227(5) Å, c = 7.151(1) Å, α = 90°, β = 90°, γ = 90°, unit-cell volume V = 832.318 Å3, Z = 4, ρcal = 1.286 g cm−3, and space group P21212]. All measured lines were indexed and were consistent with the P21212 space group. No detectable impurities were observed.

Seaweeds have numerous biologically active ingredients, such as polysaccharides, polyphenols and carotenoids, that are beneficial to human health. Although these benefits might be related to the synthesis, secretion or reabsorption of uric acid, no studies have explored the relationship between seaweeds consumption and hyperuricaemia (HUA) in the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether seaweeds consumption is related to HUA in a large-scale adult population. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 32 365 adults (17 328 men and 15 037 women) in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China. Frequency of seaweeds consumption was assessed by a validated self-administered FFQ. HUA was defined as serum uric acid levels >420 μmol/L in men and >350 μmol/L in women. The association between seaweeds consumption and HUA was assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. Restricted cubic spline functions were used for non-linearity tests. The prevalence of HUA in men and women was 21·17 % and 5·93 %, respectively. After adjustments for potential confounding factors, the OR (95 % CI) for HUA across seaweed consumption (g/1000 kcal per d) were 1·00 (reference) for level 1, 0·91 (95 % CI 0·81, 1·02) for level 2; 0·90 (95 % CI 0·81, 1·01) for level 3; 0·86 (95 % CI 0·78, 0·97) for level 4 in men and 0·90 (95 % CI 0·73, 1·10) for level 2; 0·82 (95 % CI 0·67, 1·00) for level 3; 0·84 (95 % CI 0·68, 1·03) for level 4 in women, respectively. A negative correlation between seaweeds consumption and HUA in males but not in females was observed. Further studies are needed to explore the causal relationship.

ABSTRACT IMPACT: We devised a new method to produce highly potent SARS-CoV2-specific that can be used to treat severely ill patients with Covid-19. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are thought to offer the most immediate and effective treatment for those severely afflicted by Covid-19. We devised an approach for rapid and efficient generation of human monoclonal antibodies with neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: SARS-CoV-2 S1 spike protein-specific memory B cells were isolated from 12 subjects recovering from infection with that virus. Paired end single index sequencing was performed using up to 10,000 antigen-specific B cells per subject. Antigen-specific B cell clones were identified by unique diversity and joining gene V(D)J rearrangements and the CDR3 regions. VH and VL regions were cloned and the products expressed in 293T/17 cells to generate spike-specific human monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Forty-three human monoclonal antibodies were produced. Every monoclonal antibody so generated neutralized viruses pseudotyped with Spike protein of the Wuhan-1 strain. Eighteen monoclonal antibodies neutralized pseudotyped viruses with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50s) between 1 pg/mL and 1 ng/mL (6.7 x 10E-15 M to 6.7 x 10E-12 M), exceeding by 10-100-fold the potency of previously reported anti-SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. Eight monoclonal antibodies neutralized viruses pseudotyped with mutant spike proteins previously identified in clinical isolates, including receptor binding domain mutants and the C-terminal D614G mutant with IC50<6.7 x10E-12M. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: We show that SARS-CoV-2 evokes high affinity B cell responses. Some B cells produce antibodies that are broadly neutralizing; others produce strain-specific antibodies. However, antigenic variants that would potentially escape control by immunity or vaccination were nonetheless identified.

To understand the characteristics and influencing factors related to cluster infections in Jiangsu Province, China, we investigated case reports to explore transmission dynamics and influencing factors of scales of cluster infection. The effectiveness of interventions was assessed by changes in the time-dependent reproductive number (Rt). From 25th January to 29th February, Jiangsu Province reported a total of 134 clusters involving 617 cases. Household clusters accounted for 79.85% of the total. The time interval from onset to report of index cases was 8 days, which was longer than that of secondary cases (4 days) (χ2 = 22.763, P < 0.001) and had a relationship with the number of secondary cases (the correlation coefficient (r) = 0.193, P = 0.040). The average interval from onset to report was different between family cluster cases (4 days) and community cluster cases (7 days) (χ2 = 28.072, P < 0.001). The average time interval from onset to isolation of patients with secondary infection (5 days) was longer than that of patients without secondary infection (3 days) (F = 9.761, P = 0.002). Asymptomatic patients and non-familial clusters had impacts on the size of the clusters. The average reduction in the Rt value in family clusters (26.00%, 0.26 ± 0.22) was lower than that in other clusters (37.00%, 0.37 ± 0.26) (F = 4.400, P = 0.039). Early detection of asymptomatic patients and early reports of non-family clusters can effectively weaken cluster infections.

Nicotine 3,5-dihydroxybenzoate dihydrate is a nicotine salt and can be used as compositions in tobacco products. X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for nicotine 3,5-dihydroxybenzoate, C10H15N2⋅C7H5O4⋅2H2O, are reported [a = 8.424(1) Å, b = 13.179(8) Å, c = 8.591(1) Å, α = 90°, β = 102.073(8)°, γ = 90°, unit-cell volume V = 932.765(3) Å3, Z = 2, ρcal = 1.256 g⋅cm−3, and space group P21] at room temperature. All measured lines were indexed and are consistent with the P21 space group.

It was reported that about 10% of people suffer from painful knee arthritis, and a quarter of them were severely disabled. The core activities of daily living were severely limited by knee osteoarthritis (KOA). In order to reduce knee pain and prolong the life of the knee joint, there has been an increasing demand on the development of exoskeletons, for prevention and treatment. The course of KOA was closely related to the biomechanics of knee joint, and the pathogenesis was summarized based on the biomechanics of knee joint. For the prevention and clinical treatment, exoskeletons are classified into three categories: prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation after the operation. Furthermore, the design concepts, actuators, sensors, control strategies, and evaluation criteria were presented. Finally, the shortcomings and limitations were summarized. It is useful for researchers to develop suitable exoskeletons in the future.

We aim to determine the correlation between parental rearing, personality traits, and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) in different quantiles. In particular, we created an intermediary effect model in which parental rearing affects OCD through personality traits. All predictors were measured at the time of the survey, comprising parental rearing (paternal rearing and maternal rearing), demographics (grade and gender), and personality traits (neuroticism, extroversion, and psychoticism). These results suggest that (a) paternal emotional warmth was negatively correlated with OCD at the 0.40–0.80 quantile, while maternal emotional warmth was positively correlated with the OCD at the 0.45–0.69 quantile. (b) The correlation between negative parental rearing and OCD ranged from the 0.67 to 0.95 quantile for paternal punishment, 0.14–0.82 quantile for paternal overprotection, 0.05–0.36 and >0.50 quantile for maternal over-intervention and overprotection, and 0.08–0.88 quantile for maternal rejection. (c) Extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism were not only associated with OCD in a particular quantile but also mediated between parental rearing (namely parental emotional warmth, paternal punishment, paternal overprotection, maternal rejection, maternal over-intervention, and overprotection) and OCD. These findings provide targets for early interventions of OCD to improve the form of family education and personality traits and warrant validation.