Fiber-based masks and respirators: using decontamination methods and antimicrobial treatment to improve its reusability during pandemic

Shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) is often projected in response to public health emergencies such as infection outbreaks and pandemics. Respiratory protective devices (RPDs), namely medical face masks and respirators, are considered the last defense for the front-line healthcare workers. Cleaning, decontamination and reuse of the disposable RPDs have been accepted by local health authorities during the pandemic period. To contribute to the mitigation of RPD shortage and ensure the safe adoption of decontamination protocols, this review discusses the regulated testing standards and the most commonly studied decontamination methods in the literature. The reuse of RPDs must fulfill three criteria: remove the microbial thread, maintain original function and structural integrity (including fitting tests) and leave no harmful residuals. Decontamination methods such as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, moist heat and vaporized hydrogen peroxide appeared to be the most promising methods in balancing the above-mentioned criteria. However, the effectiveness of decontamination methods varies depending on the RPDs’ models, materials and design. Therefore, the adoption of protocols needs to be evidence-based with full validation in the local institutes. Additionally, new technology such as antimicrobial treated PPE that can reduce the risks of fomite during donning and doffing process with an extended lifespan should be encouraged. Overall, good training and guidance for appropriate reuse of RPDs are fundamental to ensure their efficiency in protecting front-line healthcare workers.This work was funded by the R&D project of EXMA company in co-promotion with the University of Minho NORTE-01-02B7-FEDER-048968 supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), by the UV-Fast project funded by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through UID/CTM/00264/2021 and the Research4COVID-19 special fund (Project 011_595803006), and PLASMAMED project (ref. PTDC/CTM-TEX/28295/2017) co-financed by COMPETE2020, under Portugal 2020 through the ERDF and FCT, and by the Qingdao Postdoctoral Application Project

Transient Activation of Autophagy via Sox2-Mediated Suppression of mTOR Is an Important Early Step in Reprogramming to Pluripotency

SummaryAutophagy is an essential cellular mechanism that degrades cytoplasmic proteins and organelles to recycle their components. Here we show that autophagy is required for reprogramming of somatic cells to form induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our data indicate that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is downregulated by Sox2 at an early stage of iPSC generation and that this transient downregulation of mTOR is required for reprogramming to take place. In the absence of Sox2, mTOR remains at a high level and inhibits autophagy. Mechanistically, Sox2 binds to a repressive region on the mTOR promoter and recruits the NuRD complex to mediate transcriptional repression. We also detected enhanced autophagy at the four- to eight-cell stage of embryonic development, and a similar Sox2 and mTOR-mediated regulatory pathway seems to operate in this context as well. Thus, our findings reveal Sox2-dependent temporal regulation of autophagy as a key step in cellular reprogramming processes

Habitat Use and Activity Patterns of Mammals and Birds in Relation to Temperature and Vegetation Cover in the Alpine Ecosystem of Southwestern China with Camera-Trapping Monitoring

The high-altitude ecosystem of the Tibetan Plateau in China is a biodiversity hotspot that provides unique habitats for endemic and relict species along an altitudinal gradient at the eastern edge. Acquiring biodiversity information in this area, where the average altitude is over 4000 m, has been difficult but has been aided by recent developments in non-invasive technology, including infrared-triggered camera trapping. We used camera trapping to acquire a substantial number of photographic wildlife records in Wolong National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China, from 2013 to 2016. We collected information of the habitat surrounding the observation sites, resulting in a dataset covering 37 species and 12 environmental factors. We performed a multivariate statistical analysis to discern the dominant environmental factors and cluster the mammals and birds of the ecosystem in order to examine environmental factors contributing to the species’ relative abundance. Species were generalized into three main types, i.e., cold-resistant, phyllophilic, and thermophilic, according to the identified key environmental drivers (i.e., temperature and vegetation) for their abundances. The mammal species with the highest relative abundance were bharal (Pseudois nayaur), Moupin pika (Ochotona thibetana), and Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana). The bird species with highest relative abundance were snow partridge (Lerwa lerwa), plain mountain finch (Leucosticte nemoricola), Chinese monal (Lophophorus lhuysii), and alpine accentor (Prunella collaris)

A Novel Magnetic β-Cyclodextrin-Modified Graphene Oxide and Chitosan Composite as an Adsorbent for Trace Extraction of Four Bisphenol Pollutants from Environmental Water Samples and Food Samples

In this study, a novel functionalized magnetic composite (MNCGC) for magnetic solid-phase extraction of bisphenols from environmental and food samples was developed, featuring a multistep synthesis with Fe3O4, chitosan, graphene oxide, and β-cyclodextrin, crosslinked by glutaraldehyde. Characterization confirmed its advantageous morphology, intact crystal structure of the magnetic core, specific surface area, and magnetization, enabling efficient adsorption and separation via an external magnetic field. The optimized MSPE–HPLC–FLD method demonstrated excellent sensitivity, linearity, and recovery rates exceeding 80% for bisphenol pollutants, validating the method’s effectiveness in enriching and detecting trace levels of bisphenols in complex matrices. This approach offers a new avenue for analyzing multiple bisphenol residues, with successful application to environmental water and food samples, showing high recovery rates

Global behavior of a multi-group SEIR epidemic model with spatial diffusion in a heterogeneous environment

In this paper, we propose a multi-group SEIR epidemic model with spatial diffusion, where the model parameters are spatially heterogeneous. The positivity and ultimate boundedness of the solution, as well as the existence of a global attractor of the associated solution semiflow, are established. The definition of the basic reproduction number is given by utilizing the next generation operator approach, whereby threshold-type results on the global dynamics in terms of this number are established. That is, when the basic reproduction number is less than one, the disease-free steady state is globally asymptotically stable, while if it is greater than one, uniform persistence of this model is proved. Finally, the feasibility of the main theoretical results is shown with the aid of numerical examples for a model with two groups

Global Exponential Stability of Almost Periodic Solutions for Nicholson’s Blowflies System with Nonlinear Density-Dependent Mortality Terms and Patch Structure

This paper considers a generalized Nicholson’s blowflies system with nonlinear density-dependent mortality terms and patch structure. Under appropriate conditions, we establish some criteria to ensure that the solutions of this system exist and converge globally exponentially to a positive almost periodic solution. The results complement another case of nonlinear density-dependent mortality terms in Chen and Wang [5]

Human Ergonomics Study in Microgravity Environment

In recent decades, human exploration of space has gradually deepened, and more and more countries and regions have successfully sent astronauts into space. How to complete the space experiment as efficiently and safely as possible in the shortest time with limited resources has become an important issue in the field of aerospace technology. Taking full account of such matter, we consider that ergonomics in design stage is one of the most effective ways to solve this problem. The microgravity environment is the biggest difference between ground and space. Therefore, the study of ergonomics under the microgravity environment is of great significance. This article deeply analyses and summarizes the physiological differences between human and normal gravity under microgravity environment. From the ergonomics point of view, the requirements for spacecraft design and space mission planning are put forward for the reference of engineers and scholars