ICU capacity, ICU staffing, and postcardiotomy ECMO outcomes in China: a multilevel cross-sectional study.

Background: As the complexity of cardiac surgeries increases and patient selection criteria expand, the use of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for high-risk patients has become more prevalent. Despite its critical role in sustaining life, postcardiotomy ECMO (PC-ECMO) is associated with high in-hospital mortality rates. Intensive care unit (ICU) capacity and staffing are crucial in determining patient outcomes.

Potential for synergistic conservation through area-based strategies.

The ongoing biodiversity crisis has raised concerns about the effectiveness of area-based conservation (ABC) strategies for achieving positive biodiversity outcomes. In riverine ecosystems, the linear habitat structure of fishes introduces uncertainty into the synergistic conservation potential of ABC. Therefore, to assess the synergistic conservation potential of ABC for multiple groups, we used data from IUCN and RivFishTIME database up to 2020 for fishes, mammals, and birds to assess the reliability of area sampling based on species-area relationships and latitudinal dependence analyses.

The role of inflammatory biomarkers in the development and progression of pre-eclampsia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy complication associated with maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Among the potential pathogenesis discussed, inflammation is considered an essential initiator of PE. Previous studies have compared the levels of various inflammatory biomarkers that indicate the existence of PE; however, the relative levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory biomarkers and their dynamic changes during PE progression remain unclear.

Technological innovation facilitates the practice of "three-dimensional ecology".

The development of "three-dimensional ecology" reveals refreshing phenomena and challenges us to use three-dimensional information for studying animal perception. We created a new processing framework to quantify the shielding effect using a reconstructed environmental structure. The framework achieves three objectives: 1) the observed is introduced, 2) the observed space size can be flexibly dealt with, and 3) three-dimensional attributes are assigned to the environmental structure.

Surprising leopard restoration in fragmented ecosystems reveals connections as the secret to conservation success.

The Chinese Loess Plateau has been the cradle of Chinese civilization and the main human settlement in China for thousands of years, where anthropogenic activities are believed to have deeply eroded natural landscapes. After decades of minimal leopard sighting in forests of northern China, due to serious human interference, we recently discovered that the leopard population is recovering. This finding provides hope for successful biodiversity conservation in human-dominated ecosystems.

Unbiased approach to identify and assess efficacy of human SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to significantly impact the global population, thus countermeasure platforms that enable rapid development of therapeutics against variants of SARS-CoV-2 are essential. We report use of a phage display human antibody library approach to rapidly identify neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against SARS-CoV-2. We demonstrate the binding and neutralization capability of two nAbs, STI-2020 and STI-5041, against the SARS-CoV-2 WA-1 strain as well as the Alpha and Beta variants.

Discovery and intranasal administration of a SARS-CoV-2 broadly acting neutralizing antibody with activity against multiple Omicron subvariants.

Background: The continual emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern, in particular the newly emerged Omicron (B.1.1.

Intermittent Fasting versus Continuous Calorie Restriction: Which Is Better for Weight Loss?

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials and pilot trial studies to compare the effectiveness of intermittent fasting (IF) and continuous calorie restriction (CCR) in overweight and obese people. The parameters included body mass index (BMI), body weight, and other metabolism-related indicators. A systematic search in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science was conducted up to January 2022.

Multi-channel fiber optical spectrometer for high-throughput characterization of photoluminescence properties.

High-throughput experiment can significantly accelerate the materials research efficiency. Thanks to national efforts, the Materials Genome Initiative further promotes the development of high-throughput experimental technology. A multi-channel fiber optical spectrometer has been designed and developed by us for high-throughput characterization of photoluminescence (PL) properties.

Protective Effect of Recombinant Proteins of During Pregnancy on the Offspring.

is a food-borne pathogen carried in milk powder that can cause severe bacteremia, enterocolitis, and meningitis in newborns, which can lead to death of newborns. Preventing infection by this pathogen is significant to the health of newborns. Since infants and young children are the main target group of , it is considered that maternal immunity can enhance the protection of newborns.

PSMA-targeted bispecific Fab conjugates that engage T cells.

Bioconjugate formats provide alternative strategies for antigen targeting with bispecific antibodies. Here, PSMA-targeted Fab conjugates were generated using different bispecific formats. Interchain disulfide bridging of an αCD3 Fab enabled installation of either the PSMA-targeting small molecule DUPA (SynFab) or the attachment of an αPSMA Fab (BisFab) by covalent linkage.

Chemically generated IgG2 bispecific antibodies through disulfide bridging.

Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are designed to engage two antigens simultaneously, thus, effectively expanding the ability of antibody-based therapeutics to target multiple pathways within the same cell, engage two separate soluble antigens, bind the same antigen with distinct paratopes, or crosslink two different cell types. Many recombinant BsAb formats have emerged, however, expression and purification of such constructs can often be challenging. To this end, we have developed a chemical strategy for generating BsAbs using native IgG2 architecture.

A 3(10)-helical pentapeptide in water: interplay of alpha,alpha-disubstituted amino acids and the central residue on structure formation.

C(alpha,alpha)-disubstituted amino acids (alphaalphaAAs) are widely used to conformationally constrain peptides. A series of pentapeptides containing dipropylglycine (Dpg) at alternating positions and their alpha-amino acid counterpart L-norvaline (Nva) analogues were synthesized to fully investigate the impact of Dpg on peptide backbone structure in aqueous solution. CD, VCD, and NMR spectral analysis suggest that Dpg containing peptides adopt more ordered structures relative to their Nva containing analogues.

Alzheimer's Abeta peptides containing an isostructural backbone mutation afford distinct aggregate morphologies but analogous cytotoxicity. Evidence for a common low-abundance toxic structure(s)?

Amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide amyloidogenesis, involving the formation of numerous distinct quaternary structures, appears to cause Alzheimer's disease. However, the precise identification of the toxic structure(s) and the neurotoxicity mechanism(s) remains elusive. Mutating the Abeta 1-40 Phe19-Phe20 backbone amide bond to an isostructural E-olefin bond enables formation of spherical aggregates to the exclusion of detectable amyloid fibrils.

Amide-to-E-olefin versus amide-to-ester backbone H-bond perturbations: Evaluating the O-O repulsion for extracting H-bond energies.

Both amide-to-ester and amide-to-E-olefin backbone amide mutation methods were employed to perturb the same H-bond (formed by the NH of F23 and the CO of R14) in the Pin WW domain. Comparison of the thermodynamic folding energies of the ester mutant and the E-olefin mutant, accounting for the transfer free energy differences measured on relevant model compounds, yielded an estimated value of 0.3 kcal/mol for the O-O repulsion term (DeltaGO-Orep) in a beta-sheet context.

Stoichiometric inhibition of amyloid beta-protein aggregation with peptides containing alternating alpha,alpha-disubstituted amino acids.

We have prepared two peptides based on the hydrophobic core (Lys-Leu-Val-Phe-Phe) of amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) that contain alpha,alpha-disubstituted amino acids at alternating positions, but differ in the positioning of the oligolysine chain (AMY-1, C-terminus; AMY-2, N-terminus). We have studied the effects of AMY-1 and AMY-2 on the aggregation of Abeta and find that, at stoichiometric concentrations, both peptides completely stop Abeta fibril growth. Equimolar mixtures of AMY-1 and Abeta form only globular aggregates as imaged by scanning force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.

E-olefin dipeptide isostere incorporation into a polypeptide backbone enables hydrogen bond perturbation: probing the requirements for Alzheimer's amyloidogenesis.

Herein, we report a stereospecific E-olefin dipeptide isostere synthesis that can be used to make gram quantities of the Phe-Phe isostere desired for eliminating a specific backbone H-bond donor and acceptor in the Alzheimer's disease related Abeta peptide. The Phe19-Phe20 E-olefin analogue of Abeta(1-40) was prepared by solid-phase peptide synthesis and was subjected to amyloidogenesis conditions. This analogue can aggregate into spherical morphologies but does not progress on to form protofibrils or fibrils as is the case for the all-amide sequence, providing insight into the structural requirements for amyloidogenesis.

Facile synthesis of alpha,alpha-diisobutylglycine and anchoring its derivatives onto PAL-PEG-PS resin.

alpha,alpha-Diisobutylglycine has been synthesized using a Pd-mediated dialkylation of ethyl nitroacetate as a key first step. The free alphaalphaAA is N(alpha)-protected and has been applied to the assembly of conformationally constrained peptide analogues. Mixed anhydrides from BOP-Cl and Fmoc-alphaalphaAA-OH are used for anchoring alphaalphaAAs onto a trialkoxybenzyl linker on PEG-PS grafted support, upon which a beta-strand mimic with difficult sequence is assembled in a superior quality.

Efficient acylation of the N-terminus of highly hindered C(alpha)(alpha)-disubstituted amino acids via amino acid symmetrical anhydrides.

[reaction: see text] Fmoc amino acid symmetrical anhydrides are efficient and readily available reagents for acylation of the N-terminus of highly hindered C(alpha)(alpha)-dialkylated alpha-amino acids. Comparison of a variety of coupling protocols showed that the symmetrical anhydride method always provided the superior results. This method was successfully applied to the solid-phase synthesis of a peptide containing three alpha(alpha)AAs at alternating positions.