The mumps resurgence has frequently been reported around the world in recent years, especially in many counties mumps vaccines have been widely used. This study aimed to describe the spatial epidemiological characteristics of mumps in Jiangsu, and provide a scientific basis for the implementation and adjustment of strategies to prevent and control mumps. The epidemiological characteristics were described with ratio or proportion. Spatial autocorrelation, Tango's flexible spatial scan statistics, and Kulldorff's elliptic spatiotemporal scan statistics were applied to identify the spatial autocorrelation, detect hot and cold spots of mumps incidence, and aggregation areas. A total of 172 775 cases were reported from 2004 to 2020 in Jiangsu. The general trend of mumps incidence is declining with a bimodal seasonal distribution identified mainly in summer and winter, respectively. Children aged 5–10 years old are the main risk group. A migration trend of hot spots from southeast to northwest over time was found. Similar high-risk aggregations were detected in the northwestern parts through spatial-temporal analysis with the most likely cluster time frame around 2019. Local medical and health administrations should formulate and implement targeted health care policies and allocate health resources more appropriately corresponding to the epidemiological characteristics of mumps.

The upsurge in the number of people affected by the COVID-19 is likely to lead to increased rates of emotional trauma and mental illnesses. This article systematically reviewed the available data on the benefits of interventions to reduce adverse mental health sequelae of infectious disease outbreaks, and to offer guidance for mental health service responses to infectious disease pandemic. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, WHO Global Research Database on infectious disease, and the preprint server medRxiv were searched. Of 4278 reports identified, 32 were included in this review. Most articles of psychological interventions were implemented to address the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, followed by Ebola, SARS, and MERS for multiple vulnerable populations. Increasing mental health literacy of the public is vital to prevent the mental health crisis under the COVID-19 pandemic. Group-based cognitive behavioral therapy, psychological first aid, community-based psychosocial arts program, and other culturally adapted interventions were reported as being effective against the mental health impacts of COVID-19, Ebola, and SARS. Culturally-adapted, cost-effective, and accessible strategies integrated into the public health emergency response and established medical systems at the local and national levels are likely to be an effective option to enhance mental health response capacity for the current and for future infectious disease outbreaks. Tele-mental healthcare services were key central components of stepped care for both infectious disease outbreak management and routine support; however, the usefulness and limitations of remote health delivery should also be recognized.

Cardiac fibroma is a rare benign primary tumour of the heart. In the paediatric population, it has been reported as the second most common benign cardiac tumour following rhabdomyoma. However, the prevalence of cardiac fibroma is rarely reported in the adult population. Signs and symptoms are nonspecific, including palpitations, cardiac murmur, arrhythmias, dyspnoea, cyanosis, chest pain, and sudden mortality, whereas, a number of patients with cardiac fibroma are asymptomatic. Surgical resection should be considered as the best option in symptomatic patients. This study reported four surgical cases of adults with cardiac fibroma arising from the left ventricle and a literature review regarding the clinical and pathological features, diagnostic modalities, therapeutic aspects, and prognosis of this rare entity.

The razor clam, Sinonovacula constricta, contains high levels of long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA), which are critical for human health. In addition, S. constricta is the first marine mollusc demonstrated to possess Δ6 fatty acyl desaturase (Fad) and complete LC-PUFA biosynthetic ability, providing a good representative to investigate the molecular mechanism of sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBP) in regulating Δ6 Fad for LC-PUFA biosynthesis in marine molluscs. Herein, S. constricta SREBP and Δ6 Fad promoter were cloned and characterised. Subsequently, dual luciferase and electrophoretic mobility shift assays were conducted to explore the SREBP binding elements in the core regulatory region of S. constricta Δ6 Fad promoter. Results showed that S. constricta SREBP had a very conservative basic helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper motif, while S. constricta Δ6 Fad promoter exhibited very poor identity with teleost Fads2 promoters, indicating their differentiation during evolution. A 454 bp region harbouring a core sequence in S. constricta Δ6 Fad promoter was predicted to be essential for the transcriptional activation by SREBP. This was the first report on the regulatory mechanism of LC-PUFA biosynthesis in marine molluscs, which would facilitate optimising the LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway of bivalves in further studies.

The aim of this study was to investigate the in vivo degradation mechanism and the mechanical properties of poly(lactide-co-glycolide)/beta-tricalcium phosphate (PLGA/β-TCP) composite anchors. Anchors composed of PLGA and β-TCP were implanted in the dorsal subcutaneous tissue of beagle dogs for 6, 12, 16, and 26 weeks. The degradation of the materials was evaluated by measuring the changes in thermal behavior, crystallinity, and mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to observe the surface and longitudinal section of the material. The evaluation of mechanical strength retention and degradation properties suggest that the addition of β-TCP particles efficiently enhances their mechanical properties and thermal characteristics and delays their degradation rate. By analyzing the results of SEM, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry, we can infer that after 12 weeks, the connection between β-TCP and PLGA becomes less compact, which accelerates the decline of mechanical strength.

Dipetalonema gracile is a common parasite in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), which can cause malnutrition and progressive wasting of the host, and lead to death in the case of massive infection. This study aimed to identify a suspected D. gracile worm from a dead squirrel monkey by means of molecular biology, and to amplify its complete mitochondrial genome by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis. The results identified the worm as D. gracile, and the full length of its complete mitochondrial genome was 13,584 bp, which contained 22 tRNA genes, 12 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, one AT-rich region and one small non-coding region. The nucleotide composition included A (16.89%), G (20.19%), T (56.22%) and C (6.70%), among which A + T = 73.11%. The 12 protein-coding genes used TTG and ATT as start codons, and TAG and TAA as stop codons. Among the 22 tRNA genes, only trnS1AGN and trnS2UCN exhibited the TΨC-loop structure, while the other 20 tRNAs showed the TV-loop structure. The rrnL (986 bp) and rrnS (685 bp) genes were single-stranded and conserved in secondary structure. This study has enriched the mitochondrial gene database of Dipetalonema and laid a scientific basis for further study on classification, and genetic and evolutionary relationships of Dipetalonema nematodes.

A gradient structure was synthesized on the surface of Zr55Al10Ni5Cu30 alloy with high glass-forming ability by laser surface melting (LSM). Along the laser incident direction, the surface remelted alloy exhibits gradient microstructure distributed in the sequence of amorphous structure, nanocrystal- reinforced amorphous matrix composite (transitional layer A), dendrites–amorphous phase composite (transitional layer B), and crystalline phases from the top surface to the substrate. The formation mechanism of this gradient structure is discussed based on the experimental results of the microstructure together with the finite volume simulation of the process of LSM treatment. The friction coefficient of the transitional layer A is ∼2.5 times lower than those of the other layers under the same sliding friction condition, and possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed in connection with the rolling motion and material transfer mechanism. The transitional layer B exhibits the best wear resistance among all the structures studied here, which is related to the optimized ratio of microhardness to reduced Young’s modulus (H/Er).

Ni- and Cu-free Zr–Al–Co–Ag bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with diameters up to 20 mm were synthesized by copper mold casting. The effects of Ag alloying on the superior glass-forming ability (GFA) of Zr–Al–Co–Ag alloys were studied based on the localized atomic structure and crystallization behavior. High-energy synchrotron radiation x-ray diffraction result reveals that Ag addition in Zr–Al–Co system results in a more homogeneous local atomic structure, which could be an origin for the improved GFA of the Zr–Al–Co–Ag alloy. Crystallization products of the Zr–Al–Co–Ag glassy alloy are more complex than those of the Zr–Al–Co glassy alloy. The Zr–Al–Co–Ag BMGs free from highly toxic elements Ni and Cu exhibited a combination of superior GFA, high compressive fracture strength over 2000 MPa, low Young’s modulus of 93 to 94 GPa, and good corrosion resistance in phosphate-buffered solution (PBS), inspiring their potential biomedical applications.

The compositional dependence of glass formation and thermal and elastic properties was clarified for the ternary La–Al–Co bulk glass-forming system. The existing linear correlation between La concentration and characteristic temperatures, i.e., the glass transition temperature Tg and the onset temperature of crystallization Tx, as well as the elastic moduli in this system can give a useful guideline for the chemical design of desirable bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with tunable physical properties in advance. The relationship between Tg and elastic constants for the La–Al–Co BMGs can be quantitatively described using a microscopic model proposed by T. Egami.

A novel photochromic complex composed of Keggin-type tungstophosphate acid (PW12) and polyacrylamide (PAM) was prepared. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermogravimetric study, Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), ultraviolet–visiblea bsorption spectra (UV-VIS), and electron resonance spectra (ESR) were used to investigate the surface topography, composition, and photochromic behavior and mechanism of the film. Under UV irradiation, the film was reduced photochemically to yield a blue species. AFM images indicated that surface topography of the polymer matrix changed after adding PW12. FTIR results showed that the Keggin geometry of PW12 was still preserved inside the matrix, and a charge-transfer bridge was built between PW12 and PAM by hydrogen bonding. The characteristic signal of W (V) and the formation of a radical signal in ESR spectra indicated that PAM was a hydrogen donor and the photoreduced process was in accordance with the radical mechanism.The diffusion of oxygen in the polymeric network plays an important role in the reversibility of photochromism.

A series of photochromic sol-gel films are prepared through entrapping tungsten heteropolyoxometallates (PW12O403−, SiW12O404−) and molybdenum heteropolyoxometallate (PMo12O403−) into a kind of inorganic–organic matrix cohydrolyzed from tetraethylorthosilicate and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The films show reversible photochromicity. Irradiated with ultraviolet light, the transparent films change from colorless to blue. Then, bleaching occurs when the films are in contact with air or O2 in the dark. The Keggin-type polyanions interact with R–NH3+ cations strongly, and thus disperse uniformly in the sol-gel matrix, as proved by Fourier transform infrared spectra and x-ray diffraction. The molybdenum heteropolyoxometallate sol-gel film has higher photochromic efficiency and much slower bleaching than its counterparts of tungsten heteropolyoxometallate. A charge-transfer model which is supported by electron spin resonance and related literature [T. Yamase, Chem. Rev. 98, 307, (1998)] is put forth to explain the above experimental results.