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COVID-19 has spread globally. Epidemiological susceptibility to COVID-19 has been reported in patients with cancer. We aimed to systematically characterise clinical features and determine risk factors of COVID-19 disease severity for patients with cancer and COVID-19. In this multicentre, retrospective, cohort study, we included all adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with any type of malignant solid tumours and haematological malignancy who were admitted to nine hospitals in Wuhan, China, with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between Jan 13 and March 18, 2020. Enrolled patients were statistically matched (2:1) with patients admitted with COVID-19 who did not have cancer with propensity score on the basis of age, sex, and comorbidities. Demographic characteristics, laboratory examinations, illness severity, and clinical interventions were compared between patients with COVID-19 with or without cancer as well as between patients with cancer with non-severe or severe COVID-19. COVID-19 disease severity was defined on admission on the basis of the WHO guidelines. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, cancer type, tumour stage, and antitumour treatments, were used to explore risk factors associated with COVID-19 disease severity. This study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Register, ChiCTR2000030807. Between Jan 13 and March 18, 2020, 13 077 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to the nine hospitals in Wuhan and 232 patients with cancer and 519 statistically matched patients without cancer were enrolled. Median follow-up was 29 days (IQR 22–38) in patients with cancer and 27 days (20–35) in patients without cancer. Patients with cancer were more likely to have severe COVID-19 than patients without cancer (148 [64%] of 232 vs 166 [32%] of 519; odds ratio [OR] 3·61 [95% CI 2·59–5·04]; p<0·0001). Risk factors previously reported in patients without cancer, such as older age; elevated interleukin 6, procalcitonin, and D-dimer; and reduced lymphocytes were validated in patients with cancer. We also identified advanced tumour stage (OR 2·60, 95% CI 1·05–6·43; p=0·039), elevated tumour necrosis factor α (1·22, 1·01–1·47; p=0·037), elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (1·65, 1·03–2·78; p=0·032), reduced CD4+ T cells (0·84, 0·71–0·98; p=0·031), and reduced albumin–globulin ratio (0·12, 0·02–0·77; p=0·024) as risk factors of COVID-19 severity in patients with cancer. Patients with cancer and COVID-19 were more likely to deteriorate into severe illness than those without cancer. The risk factors identified here could be helpful for early clinical surveillance of disease progression in patients with cancer who present with COVID-19. China National Natural Science Foundation.

Situated in the hinterland of Eurasia, Central Asia is characterized by an arid climate and sparse rainfall. The uneven spatial distribution of water and land resources across the region has pressured economic and social development. An accurate understanding of Central Asia’s water resources carrying capacity (WRCC) is vital for enhancing the sustainability of water resources utilization and guiding regional economic and social activities. This study aims to facilitate the sustainability of water resources utilization by evaluating the region’s WRCC from the viewpoints of economic and technological conditions and social welfare. A concise yet effective model with relatively fewer parameters was established by adopting water resources data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and socioeconomic data from the World Bank. The results indicated that the WRCC of all five Central Asian countries showed an increasing trend with improved water use efficiency from 1995 to 2020. Kazakhstan’s WRCC was significantly higher than the other four countries, reaching 54.03 million people in 2020. The water resources carrying index (WRCI) of the five Central Asian countries varied considerably, with the actual population sizes of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan highly overloaded. Although there has been a decrease in Central Asian countries’ WRCI between 1995 and 2020, water resources utilization problems in the region remain prominent. Based on the water resources carrying capacity evaluation system, to increase available water resources and improve production water use efficiency are key to address these issues. In light of this, this study offers practical and feasible solutions at the policy level: (1) The implementation of signed multilateral agreements on transboundary water resources allocation must proceed through joint governmental efforts. (2) Investments in advancing science and technology need to be increased to improve water use efficiency in irrigation systems. (3) The output of water-intensive crops should be reduced. (4) The industrial structure could be further optimized so that non-agricultural uses are the primary drivers of gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) has become a conservation focus for both protected area management and local communities in many parts of the world. The incidence and mediation of HWCs are rooted in coupled environmental and socioeconomic contexts. A systematic analysis of HWCs was undertaken in 2016 in the Wolong Nature Reserve located in Sichuan Province, southwestern China. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 201 local households to understand the occurrence of wildlife damage, the wildlife species involved, the typical losses incurred, and the mitigation measures employed. The results revealed that local HWC has increased rapidly in recent years due to effective biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration policies. Despite the widespread occurrence of HWCs, with nearly all respondents stating that they had suffered a financial loss, appropriate compensation schemes are lacking. Local respondents' expected compensation amount and style were investigated, and it was concluded that integrated compensation and community development plans are needed to mediate and resolve HWC. In particular, greater attention should be given to reduce local households' dependence on agriculture and transform local livelihood strategies to alternative economic activities not related to farming, such as ecotourism development and migrating employment. Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) in the Wolong Nature Reserve in China has increased rapidly in recent years due to effective biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration policies. Local natural resource managers and national‐level policies have focused on endangered wildlife and the damage these species incur, but have ignored the sizable increases in common wildlife and the subsequent effects on the local community. Regulations outlining compensation based on actual damages incurred rather than the species of wildlife causing the damage should be promptly established in the Wolong Nature Reserve and more broadly throughout China.

The pygmy killer whale (Feresa attenuata) (PKW) is a tropical and subtropical marine mammal commonly found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Since the PKWs live in offshore protected territories, they are rarely seen onshore. Hence, PKW are one of the most poorly understood oceanic species of odontocetes. The dermal tissue comes primarily from stranding events that occur along the coast of the Shantou, Guangdong, China. The sampled tissues were immediately processed and attached on collagen-coated 6-well tissue culture plate. The complete medium (DMEM and Ham's F12, fetal bovine serum, antibiotic and essential amino acids) was added to the culture plates. The primary culture (PKW-LWH) cells were verified as fibroblast by vimentin and karyotype analyses, which revealed 42 autosomes and two sex chromosomes X and Y. Following transfection of PKW-LWH cells with a plasmid encoding, the SV40 large T-antigens and the transfected cells were isolated and expanded. Using RT-PCR, western blot, immunofluorescence analysis and SV40 large T-antigen stability was confirmed. The cell proliferation rate of the fibroblast cells, PKW-LWHT was faster than the primary cells PKW-LWH with the doubling time 68.9h and 14.4h, respectively. In this study, we established PKW dermal fibroblast cell line for the first time, providing a unique opportunity for in vitro studies on the effects of environmental pollutants and pathogens that could be determined in PKW and/or Cetaceans.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC), a key brain region controlling cognition and emotion, is strongly influenced by stress. While chronic stress often produces detrimental effects on these measures, acute stress has been shown to enhance learning and memory, predominantly through the action of corticosteroid stress hormones. We used a combination of electrophysiological, biochemical, and behavioral approaches in an effort to identify the cellular targets of acute stress. We found that behavioral Stressors in vivo cause a long-lasting potentiation of NMDAR-and AMPAR-mediated synaptic currents via glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) selectively in PFC pyramidal neurons. This effect is accompanied by increased surface expression of NMDAR and AM PAR subunits in acutely stressed animals. Furthermore, behavioral tests indicate that working memory, a key function relying on recurrent excitation within networks of PFC neurons, is enhanced by acute stress via a GR-dependent mechanism. These results have identified a form of long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission induced by natural stimuli in vivo, providing a potential molecular and cellular mechanism for the beneficial effects of acute stress on cognitive processes subserved by PFC.

Thrombus enhancement sign (TES) is a potential imaging biomarker for differentiating embolic large vessel occlusion (embo-LVO) from intracranial atherosclerosis-related LVO (ICAS-LVO) in basilar artery occlusion (BAO). This study evaluates the association between TES and BAO etiology and its predictive value in distinguishing embo-LVO from ICAS-LVO. We conducted a prospective, two-center cohort study of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with BAO who underwent EVT between January 2020 and September 2024. TES was assessed using thin-section maximum intensity projection (TS-MIP) CTA. Patients were classified as embo-LVO or ICAS-LVO based on post-EVT angiography. Logistic regression, receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) and DeLong test were used to assess TES’s diagnostic accuracy. Among 107 patients, TES was detected in 56.1% (60/107). TES was significantly more frequent in embo-LVO (85.2%) than in ICAS-LVO (17.4%) ( p  < 0.001). TES significantly associated with embo-LVO (OR, 16.136; 95% CI 4.672–55.733; p  < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) of TES for embo-LVO was 0.839, outperforming distal BAO (AUC = 0.714, p  = 0.02). Combining TES with distal BAO improved predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.883). TES is a reliable marker for identifying embo-LVO in BAO and enhancing endovascular treatment strategies for AIS.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of Saccharomyces boulardii (Sb) and Bacillus subtilis B10 (Bs) on intestinal epithelial Toll like receptors (TLR), and Cytokine expression response to understand the intestinal epithelial innate immune mechanism in broilers. A total of 300 birds (Sanhuang broilers) were allotted into three groups (n = 100) and each divided into five replications (n = 20). Control group (Ctr) birds were fed basal diet, broilers in experimental groups received (1×108cfu/kg feed) Sb and Bs respectively in addition to basal diet for 72 days. The result showed significant increase in mRNA expression level of TLR2, TLR4 and TLR15. Down streaming MyD88, TRAF6, TAB2 and NF-κB mRNA level noted higher, in the jejunum and ileum as compared to control group. Meanwhile, IL-6, TNFα, IL-10, TGF-β expression levels showed high expression in the jejunum of Sb and Bs groups. IL-10 expression level increased in the ileum and IL-6, TNFα, IL-10 and TGF-β expression levels increased in the jejunum of Sb group. Levels of IL-1 β, IL-17, and IL-4, increased merely in Sb group. Ileal cytokines IL-1β, IL-17 and IL-4concentration were noted higher in Sb group, and IL-1β, and IL-4 levels were up-regulated in Bs group. The results indicated that the INF-γ and IL-8 level decreased in Sb and BS groups. Serum IgA and sIgA level increased in both treatment groups. Our findings illustrated that S. boulardii and B. subtilis B10 may have a role to induce mucosal immunity by activating the TLRs and cytokines expressions in broilers.

In today’s world, the psychology of sports and exercise is a crucial factor to study for attaining the higher performance and productivity of athletes. The purpose of the current work is to examine the effect of authentic leadership on team performance satisfaction and psychological well-being. Moreover, the nucleus aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of authentic leadership, performance satisfaction, psychological well-being, while mediating by team cohesion and psychological capital. There is a growing indication ascertaining the positive effects of sport and exercise leaders engaging in authentic leadership. However, researchers have limited knowledge of how authentic leadership is related with athletes’ performance satisfaction and psychological well-being, the supporting system(s) that illuminate such associations, and modifications in relationships within a sports sector. The data is accumulated through administrated a survey questionnaire, it is more as a suitable method to generate under present study because it will give accurate data on numerical figure bases that can be valued certainly and that is free from any type of the ambiguities. The simple random sampling technique is used under this study for selecting the sample from large population. By using simple random sampling technique, the questionnaire is administered to distributed among 250 female athletes of different team groups in China. Out of from 250 questionnaires, 200 questionnaires were received back from athletes. The nature of the study is cross sectional as only one- time data is collected from athletes. This study used the Smart PLS software for analyzing the relationship among variables such as authentic leadership, performance satisfaction, psychological well-being, team cohesion and psychological capital. The outcome of the study reveals that authentic leadership has a significant and positive relationship with performance satisfaction and psychological well-being of the team players. Further, the psychological capital and team cohesion enhances the team performance satisfaction and psychological well-being. However, at the end, future limitations for further studies, practical implications for athlete practitioner, coach and policy- makers are provided at the end of the study.