Effect of Irradiation on Quality of Vacuum-Packed Spicy Beef Chops

To develop an alternative pasteurization process for the spicy beef jerky (SBJ), it was treated with irradiation doses of 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 4, 6, and 8 kGy and the sensory attributes, texture properties, drip loss, and the protein biological efficiency were studied. The results showed that lightness, drip loss, and off-odor of SBJ increased, while the hardness, chewiness, gumminess, color preference, and taste of SBJ decreased with the increase in irradiation dose. This tendency was obvious as the irradiation dose increased to 6 kGy and 8 kGy. The possible reason for these quality changes might be due to the free radicals produced by irradiation. This speculation is supported by the decrease of the content of capsanthin and the increase of the content of TBARS of SBJ with the increase in irradiation dose. The plate counts of treated SBJ indicated that 4 kGy was suitable for pasteurization of SBJ

Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and adverse outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background There are concerns that the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may increase the risk of adverse outcomes among patients with coronavirus COVID-19. This study aimed to synthesize the evidence on associations between the use of NSAIDs and adverse outcomes. Methods A systematic search of WHO COVID-19 Database, Medline, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, China Biology Medicine disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Database for all articles published from January 1, 2020, to November 7, 2021, as well as a supplementary search of Google Scholar. We included all comparative studies that enrolled patients who took NSAIDs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data extraction and quality assessment of methodology of included studies were completed by two reviewers independently. We conducted a meta-analysis on the main adverse outcomes, as well as selected subgroup analyses stratified by the type of NSAID and population (both positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or not). Findings Forty comparative studies evaluating 4,867,795 adult cases were identified. Twenty-eight (70%) of the included studies enrolled patients positive to SARS-CoV-2 tests. The use of NSAIDs did not reduce mortality outcomes among people with COVID-19 (number of studies [N] = 29, odds ratio [OR] = 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.75 to 1.14, I2  = 89%). Results suggested that the use of NSAIDs was not significantly associated with higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with or without COVID-19 (N = 10, OR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.86 to 1.07, I2  = 78%; N = 8, aOR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.94 to 1.09, I2  = 26%), or an increased probability of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (N = 12, OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 0.94 to 1.75, I2  = 82% ; N = 4, aOR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.65 to 1.22, I2  = 60%), requiring mechanical ventilation (N = 11, OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.54, I2  = 63%; N = 5, aOR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.52 to 1.24, I2  = 66%), or administration of supplemental oxygen (N = 5, OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.52 to 1.24, I2  = 63%; N = 2, aOR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.89 to 1.12, I2  = 0%). The subgroup analysis revealed that, compared with patients not using any NSAIDs, the use of ibuprofen (N = 5, OR = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.50 to 2.39; N = 4, aOR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.78 to 1.16) and COX-2 inhibitor (N = 4, OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.35 to 1.11; N = 2, aOR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.45 to 1.18) were not associated with an increased risk of death. Interpretation Data suggests that NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, aspirin and COX-2 inhibitor, can be used safely among patients positive to SARS-CoV-2. However, for some of the analyses the number of studies were limited and the quality of evidence was overall low, therefore more research is needed to corroborate these findings. Funding There was no funding source for this study

Application of CRISPR/Cas9 System for Plasmid Elimination and Bacterial Killing of Bacillus cereus Group Strains

The CRISPR-Cas system has been widely applied in prokaryotic genome editing with its high efficiency and easy operation. We constructed some “scissors plasmids” via using the temperature-sensitive pJOE8999 shuttle plasmid, which carry the different 20nt (N20) guiding the Cas9 nuclease as a scissors to break the target DNA. We successfully used scissors plasmids to eliminate native plasmids from Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus, and specifically killed B. anthracis. When curing pXO1 and pXO2 virulence plasmids from B. anthracis A16PI2 and A16Q1, respectively, we found that the plasmid elimination percentage was slightly higher when the sgRNA targeted the replication initiation region (96–100%), rather than the non-replication initiation region (88–92%). We also tried using a mixture of two scissors plasmids to simultaneously eliminate pXO1 and pXO2 plasmids from B. anthracis, and the single and double plasmid-cured rates were 29 and 14%, respectively. To our surprise, when we used the scissor plasmid containing two tandem sgRNAs to cure the target plasmids pXO1 and pXO2 from wild strain B. anthracis A16 simultaneously, only the second sgRNA could guide Cas9 to cleave the target plasmid with high efficiency, while the first sgRNA didn't work in all the experiments we designed. When we used the CRISPR/cas9 system to eliminate the pCE1 mega-virulence plasmid from B. cereus BC307 by simply changing the sgRNA, we also obtained a plasmid-cured isogenic strain at a very high elimination rate (69%). The sterilization efficiency of B. anthracis was about 93%, which is similar to the efficiency of plasmid curing, and there was no significant difference in the efficiency of among the scissors plasmids containing single sgRNA, targeting multi-sites, or single-site targeting and the two tandem sgRNA. This simple and effective curing method, which is applicable to B. cereus group strains, provides a new way to study these bacteria and their virulence profiles

Use of traditional and complementary medicine as self-care strategies in community health centers

In China, Community Health Centers (CHCs) are major providers of primary care services, but their potential in empowering patients’ self-management capacity has not been assessed. This study aims to describe self-care practice patterns amongst CHC attendees in urban China. In this cross-sectional quantitative study, 3360 CHC patients from 6 cities within the Pearl Delta Region were sampled using multistage cluster sampling. Thirty-seven per cent had used with over-the-counter Chinese herbal medicines (OTC CHMs) in the past year and majority of respondents found OTC CHMs effective. OTC CHMs were more popular amongst those who needed to pay out of pocket for CHC services. Less than 10% used vitamins and minerals, and those with a lower socioeconomic background have a higher propensity to consume. Although doubts on their usefulness are expressed, their use by the vulnerable population may reflect barriers to access to conventional health care, cultural affinity, or a defense against negative consequences of illnesses. About 25% performed physical exercise, but the prevalence is lower amongst women and older people. Taiji seems to be an alternative for these populations with promising effectiveness, but overall only 6% of CHC attendees participated. These results suggest that CHCs should start initiatives in fostering appropriate use of OTC CHM, vitamins, and minerals. Engaging community pharmacists in guiding safe and effective use of OTC CHM amongst the uninsured is essential given their low accessibility to CHC services. Prescription of Taiji instead of physical exercises to women and older people could be more culturally appropriate, and the possibility of including this as part of the CHC services worth further exploration

Identification of key regulatory pathways and genes involved in the dynamic progression of pigmentation in Sinibrama taeniatus

IntorductionColoration is a prominent trait in fish that is closely linked to their market value. Fish exhibit a diverse range of body colors, making them an excellent model for studying molecular mechanisms underlying pigmentation. Although regulatory pathways involved in pigmentation have been extensively studied in model fish such as zebrafish and medaka, the presence of varying chromatophore types across different fish species suggests that fish pigmentation mechanisms are not fixed. Therefore, more studies should be conducted on non-model fish. Sinibrama taeniatus is an endemic fish in the upper Yangtze River that is highly valued for its ornamental and edible properties.MethodsIn this study, we identified three chromatophore types in S. taeniatus and investigated changes in body color, chromatophores, and pigments at different developmental stages. Subsequently, RNA-seq analysis revealed that retinol metabolism, thyroid hormone synthesis, purine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism pathway are closely associated with pigmentation.ResultsWeighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified several hub genes, including mitf, wnt 9a, wnt10b, wnt11, adcy5, edn1, adcy8, and rdh8, that may play an important role in pigmentation.DiscussionOverall, our findings provide valuable insights into the role of genes and pathways in fish pigmentation and offer useful information for body color-based molecular breeding programs in aquaculture

Analysis of COVID-19 Guideline Quality and Change of Recommendations: A Systematic Review.

Background Hundreds of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and expert consensus statements have been developed and published since the outbreak of the epidemic. However, these CPGs are of widely variable quality. So, this review is aimed at systematically evaluating the methodological and reporting qualities of COVID-19 CPGs, exploring factors that may influence their quality, and analyzing the change of recommendations in CPGs with evidence published. Methods We searched five electronic databases and five websites from 1 January to 31 December 2020 to retrieve all COVID-19 CPGs. The assessment of the methodological and reporting qualities of CPGs was performed using the AGREE II instrument and RIGHT checklist. Recommendations and evidence used to make recommendations in the CPGs regarding some treatments for COVID-19 (remdesivir, glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interferon, and lopinavir-ritonavir) were also systematically assessed. And the statistical inference was performed to identify factors associated with the quality of CPGs. Results We included a total of 92 COVID-19 CPGs developed by 19 countries. Overall, the RIGHT checklist reporting rate of COVID-19 CPGs was 33.0%, and the AGREE II domain score was 30.4%. The overall methodological and reporting qualities of COVID-19 CPGs gradually improved during the year 2020. Factors associated with high methodological and reporting qualities included the evidence-based development process, management of conflicts of interest, and use of established rating systems to assess the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. The recommendations of only seven (7.6%) CPGs were informed by a systematic review of evidence, and these seven CPGs have relatively high methodological and reporting qualities, in which six of them fully meet the Institute of Medicine (IOM) criteria of guidelines. Besides, a rapid advice CPG developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the seven CPGs got the highest overall scores in methodological (72.8%) and reporting qualities (83.8%). Many CPGs covered the same clinical questions (it refers to the clinical questions on the effectiveness of treatments of remdesivir, glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interferon, and lopinavir-ritonavir in COVID-19 patients) and were published by different countries or organizations. Although randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews on the effectiveness of treatments of remdesivir, glucocorticoids, hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, interferon, and lopinavir-ritonavir for patients with COVID-19 have been published, the recommendations on those treatments still varied greatly across COVID-19 CPGs published in different countries or regions, which may suggest that the CPGs do not make sufficient use of the latest evidence. Conclusions Both the methodological and reporting qualities of COVID-19 CPGs increased over time, but there is still room for further improvement. The lack of effective use of available evidence and management of conflicts of interest were the main reasons for the low quality of the CPGs. The use of formal rating systems for the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations may help to improve the quality of CPGs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, we suggest developing a living guideline of which recommendations are supported by a systematic review for it can facilitate the timely translation of the latest research findings to clinical practice. We also suggest that CPG developers should register the guidelines in a registration platform at the beginning for it can reduce duplication development of guidelines on the same clinical question, increase the transparency of the development process, and promote cooperation among guideline developers all over the world. Since the International Practice Guideline Registry Platform has been created, developers could register guidelines prospectively and internationally on this platform

Comprehensive analyses of the citrus WRKY gene family involved in the metabolism of fruit sugars and organic acids

Sugars and organic acids are the main factors determining the flavor of citrus fruit. The WRKY transcription factor family plays a vital role in plant growth and development. However, there are still few studies about the regulation of citrus WRKY transcription factors (CsWRKYs) on sugars and organic acids in citrus fruit. In this work, a genome-wide analysis of CsWRKYs was carried out in the citrus genome, and a total of 81 CsWRKYs were identified, which contained conserved WRKY motifs. Cis-regulatory element analysis revealed that most of the CsWRKY promoters contained several kinds of hormone-responsive and abiotic-responsive cis-elements. Furthermore, gene expression analysis and fruit quality determination showed that multiple CsWRKYs were closely linked to fruit sugars and organic acids with the development of citrus fruit. Notably, transcriptome co-expression network analysis further indicated that three CsWRKYs, namely, CsWRKY3, CsWRKY47, and CsWRKY46, co-expressed with multiple genes involved in various pathways, such as Pyruvate metabolism and Citrate cycle. These CsWRKYs may participate in the metabolism of fruit sugars and organic acids by regulating carbohydrate metabolism genes in citrus fruit. These findings provide comprehensive knowledge of the CsWRKY family on the regulation of fruit quality

Methodology and experiences of rapid advice guideline development for children with COVID-19: responding to the COVID-19 outbreak quickly and efficiently

BACKGROUND: Rapid Advice Guidelines (RAG) provide decision makers with guidance to respond to public health emergencies by developing evidence-based recommendations in a short period of time with a scientific and standardized approach. However, the experience from the development process of a RAG has so far not been systematically summarized. Therefore, our working group will take the experience of the development of the RAG for children with COVID-19 as an example to systematically explore the methodology, advantages, and challenges in the development of the RAG. We shall propose suggestions and reflections for future research, in order to provide a more detailed reference for future development of RAGs. RESULT: The development of the RAG by a group of 67 researchers from 11 countries took 50 days from the official commencement of the work (January 28, 2020) to submission (March 17, 2020). A total of 21 meetings were held with a total duration of 48 h (average 2.3 h per meeting) and an average of 16.5 participants attending. Only two of the ten recommendations were fully supported by direct evidence for COVID-19, three recommendations were supported by indirect evidence only, and the proportion of COVID-19 studies among the body of evidence in the remaining five recommendations ranged between 10 and 83%. Six of the ten recommendations used COVID-19 preprints as evidence support, and up to 50% of the studies with direct evidence on COVID-19 were preprints. CONCLUSIONS: In order to respond to public health emergencies, the development of RAG also requires a clear and transparent formulation process, usually using a large amount of indirect and non-peer-reviewed evidence to support the formation of recommendations. Strict following of the WHO RAG handbook does not only enhance the transparency and clarity of the guideline, but also can speed up the guideline development process, thereby saving time and labor costs

Methodology and experiences of rapid advice guideline development for children with COVID-19: responding to the COVID-19 outbreak quickly and efficiently.

BACKGROUND Rapid Advice Guidelines (RAG) provide decision makers with guidance to respond to public health emergencies by developing evidence-based recommendations in a short period of time with a scientific and standardized approach. However, the experience from the development process of a RAG has so far not been systematically summarized. Therefore, our working group will take the experience of the development of the RAG for children with COVID-19 as an example to systematically explore the methodology, advantages, and challenges in the development of the RAG. We shall propose suggestions and reflections for future research, in order to provide a more detailed reference for future development of RAGs. RESULT The development of the RAG by a group of 67 researchers from 11 countries took 50 days from the official commencement of the work (January 28, 2020) to submission (March 17, 2020). A total of 21 meetings were held with a total duration of 48 h (average 2.3 h per meeting) and an average of 16.5 participants attending. Only two of the ten recommendations were fully supported by direct evidence for COVID-19, three recommendations were supported by indirect evidence only, and the proportion of COVID-19 studies among the body of evidence in the remaining five recommendations ranged between 10 and 83%. Six of the ten recommendations used COVID-19 preprints as evidence support, and up to 50% of the studies with direct evidence on COVID-19 were preprints. CONCLUSIONS In order to respond to public health emergencies, the development of RAG also requires a clear and transparent formulation process, usually using a large amount of indirect and non-peer-reviewed evidence to support the formation of recommendations. Strict following of the WHO RAG handbook does not only enhance the transparency and clarity of the guideline, but also can speed up the guideline development process, thereby saving time and labor costs