456 research outputs found
Analysis of the Role of General Practitioners Services in Rural Areas during the COVID-19 Epidemic
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, various regions of China have been rapidly deployed under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Party to actively prevent and control the COVID-19. The rural areas of my country have weak links to the prevention and management of public health emergencies. Problems include lack of medical and health resources and farmers’ low awareness of epidemic prevention. Situations that correspond to the prevention and management of the COVID-19 are more serious. As the patient’s first contact and “gatekeeper” in the fight against the epidemic, the general practitioner is responsible for the “first visit-subsequent ongoing intervention”. This article is about the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemics and epidemic prevention in terms of dissemination of knowledge, informed crowd control, joint prevention and control, and standardized management of people. This is a summary of the efforts of general practitioners. Quarantine at home, interactive referrals to medical consortiums, special care for contracted families. The function during the management period aims to analyze the role played by general practitioners during the epidemic and to provide new ideas for the prevention and management of the epidemic. Provide more targeted general practitioner-style services in rural areas to promote the implementation and improvement of health and poverty alleviation. The health level of the rural population provides a theoretical standard
Synthesis of electroneutralized amphiphilic copolymers with peptide dendrons for intramuscular gene delivery
Intramuscular gene delivery materials are of great importance in plasmid-based gene therapy system, but there is limited information so far on how to design and synthesize them. A previous study showed that the peptide dendron-based triblock copolymer with its components arranged in a reversed biomembrane architecture could significantly increase intramuscular gene delivery and expression. Herein, we wonder whether copolymers with biomembrane-mimicking arrangement may have similar function on intramuscular gene delivery. Meanwhile, it is of great significance to uncover the influence of electric charge and molecular structure on the function of the copolymers. To address the issues, amphiphilic triblock copolymers arranged in hydrophilic-hydrophobic-hydrophilic structure were constructed despite the paradoxical characteristics and difficulties in synthesizing such hydrophilic but electroneutral molecules. The as-prepared two copolymers, dendronG2(l-lysine-OH)-poly propylene glycol2k(PPG2k)-dendronG2(l-lysine-OH) (rL2PL2) and dendronG3(l-lysine-OH)-PPG2k-dendronG3(l-lysine-OH) (rL3PL3), were in similar structure but had different hydrophilic components and surface charges, thus leading to different capabilities in gene delivery and expression in skeletal muscle. rL2PL2 was more efficient than Pluronic L64 and rL3PL3 when mediating luciferase, β-galactosidase, and fluorescent protein expressions. Furthermore, rL2PL2-mediated growth-hormone-releasing hormone expression could significantly induce mouse body weight increase in the first 21 days after injection. In addition, both rL2PL2 and rL3PL3 showed good in vivo biosafety in local and systemic administration. Altogether, rL2PL2-mediated gene expression in skeletal muscle exhibited applicable potential for gene therapy. The study revealed that the molecular structure and electric charge were critical factors governing the function of the copolymers for intramuscular gene delivery. It can be concluded that, combined with the previous study, both structural arrangements either reverse or similar to the biomembrane are effective in designing such copolymers. It also provides an innovative way in designing and synthesizing new electroneutralized triblock copolymers, which could be used safely and efficiently for intramuscular gene delivery
Autologous cryo-shocked neutrophils enable targeted therapy of sepsis via broad-spectrum neutralization of pro-inflammatory cytokines and endotoxins
Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening disease characterized by multiple organ failure due to excessive activation of the inflammatory response and cytokine storm. Despite recent advances in the clinical use of anti-cytokine biologics, sepsis treatment efficacy and improvements in mortality remain unsatisfactory, largely due to the mechanistic complexity of immune regulation and cytokine interactions.Methods: In this study, a broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory and endotoxin neutralization strategy was developed based on autologous “cryo-shocked” neutrophils (CS-Neus) for the management of sepsis. Neutrophils were frozen to death using a novel liquid nitrogen “cryo-shock” strategy. The CS-Neus retained the source cell membrane structure and functions related to inflammatory site targeting, broad-spectrum inflammatory cytokines, and endotoxin (LPS) neutralizing properties. This strategy aimed to disable harmful pro-inflammatory functions of neutrophils, such as cytokine secretion. Autologous cell-based therapy strategies were employed to avoid immune rejection and enhance treatment safety.Results: In both LPS-induced sepsis mouse models and clinical patient-derived blood samples, CS-Neus treatment significantly ameliorated cytokine storms by removing inflammatory cytokines and endotoxin. The therapy showed notable anti-inflammatory therapeutic effects and improved the survival rate of mice.Discussion: The results of this study demonstrate the potential of autologous “cryo-shocked” neutrophils as a promising therapeutic approach for managing sepsis. By targeting inflammatory organs and exhibiting anti-inflammatory activity, CS-Neus offer a novel strategy to combat the complexities of sepsis treatment. Further research and clinical trials are needed to validate the efficacy and safety of this approach in broader populations and settings
Relative Quantification of Protein-Protein Interactions Using a Dual Luciferase Reporter Pull-Down Assay System
The identification and quantitative analysis of protein-protein interactions are essential to the functional characterization of proteins in the post-proteomics era. The methods currently available are generally time-consuming, technically complicated, insensitive and/or semi-quantitative. The lack of simple, sensitive approaches to precisely quantify protein-protein interactions still prevents our understanding of the functions of many proteins. Here, we develop a novel dual luciferase reporter pull-down assay by combining a biotinylated Firefly luciferase pull-down assay with a dual luciferase reporter assay. The biotinylated Firefly luciferase-tagged protein enables rapid and efficient isolation of a putative Renilla luciferase-tagged binding protein from a relatively small amount of sample. Both of these proteins can be quantitatively detected using the dual luciferase reporter assay system. Protein-protein interactions, including Fos-Jun located in the nucleus; MAVS-TRAF3 in cytoplasm; inducible IRF3 dimerization; viral protein-regulated interactions, such as MAVS-MAVS and MAVS-TRAF3; IRF3 dimerization; and protein interaction domain mapping, are studied using this novel assay system. Herein, we demonstrate that this dual luciferase reporter pull-down assay enables the quantification of the relative amounts of interacting proteins that bind to streptavidin-coupled beads for protein purification. This study provides a simple, rapid, sensitive, and efficient approach to identify and quantify relative protein-protein interactions. Importantly, the dual luciferase reporter pull-down method will facilitate the functional determination of proteins
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Vehicle emission and atmospheric pollution in China: problems, progress, and prospects
China has been the largest vehicle market in the world since 2009. The stalemate between the rapid development of the vehicle industry and delayed vehicle emission control has become increasingly prominent. Vehicle emission has become a significant source of air pollution in China’s cities. Understanding the current barriers in the vehicle industry is necessary for the development of effective and sustainable measures and policy to manage vehicle-induced air pollution. This review provides insight into the circumstances and causes of vehicle-induced air pollution and outlines recent progress in policy-makers’ long-term strategies and regulations. The development of an integrated mechanism of social participation, technical revolution, and regulatory innovation in vehicles, fuel, and roads is suggested to break the stalemate between air pollution and the automobile boom in China; the implications of this review extend to other countries facing the similar atmospheric pollution problems
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