Methylation at the N6 position of adenosine (m6A) is the most abundant RNA modification within protein-coding and long noncoding RNAs in eukaryotes and is a reversible process with important biological functions. YT521-B homology domain family (YTHDF) proteins are the readers of m6A, the binding of which results in the alteration of the translation efficiency and stability of m6A-containing RNAs. However, the mechanism by which YTHDF proteins cause the degradation of m6A-containing RNAs is poorly understood. Here we report that m6A-containing RNAs exhibit accelerated deadenylation that is mediated by the CCR4–NOT deadenylase complex. We further show that YTHDF2 recruits the CCR4–NOT complex through a direct interaction between the YTHDF2 N-terminal region and the SH domain of the CNOT1 subunit, and that this recruitment is essential for the deadenylation of m6A-containing RNAs by CAF1 and CCR4. Therefore, we have uncovered the mechanism of YTHDF2-mediated degradation of m6A-containing RNAs in mammalian cells.

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A bioinspired, reusable, paper-based gold-nanoparticle film is fabricated by depositing an as-prepared gold-nanoparticle thin film on airlaid paper. This paper-based system with enhanced surface roughness and low thermal conductivity exhibits increased efficiency of evaporation, scale-up potential, and proven reusability. It is also demonstrated to be potentially useful in seawater desalination.

Background: A novel coronavirus disease in Wuhan has caused an outbreak and become a major public health issue in China and great concern from international community. Myocarditis and myocardial injury were suspected and may even be considered as one of the leading causes for death of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we focused on the condition of the heart, and sought to provide firsthand evidence for whether myocarditis and myocardial injury were caused by COVID-19. Methods: We enrolled patients with confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 retrospectively and collected heart-related clinical data, mainly including cardiac imaging findings, laboratory results and clinical outcomes. Serial tests of cardiac markers were traced for the analysis of potential myocardial injury/myocarditis. Results: 112 COVID-19 patients were enrolled in our study. There was evidence of myocardial injury in COVID-19 patients and 14 (12.5%) patients had presented abnormalities similar to myocarditis. Most of patients had normal levels of troponin at admission, that in 42 (37.5%) patients increased during hospitalization, especially in those that died. Troponin levels were significantly increased in the week preceding the death. 15 (13.4%) patients have presented signs of pulmonary hypertension. Typical signs of myocarditis were absent on echocardiography and electrocardiogram. Conclusions: The clinical evidence in our study suggested that myocardial injury is more likely related to systemic consequences rather than direct damage by the 2019 novel coronavirus. The elevation in cardiac markers was probably due to secondary and systemic consequences and can be considered as the warning sign for recent adverse clinical outcomes of the patients.

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With a pace of about twice the observed rate of global warming, the temperature on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (Earth's 'third pole') has increased by 0.2°C per decade over the past 50 years, which results in significant permafrost thawing and glacier retreat. Our review suggested that warming enhanced net primary production and soil respiration, decreased methane (CH 4 ) emissions from wetlands and increased CH 4 consumption of meadows, but might increase CH 4 emissions from lakes. Warming-induced permafrost thawing and glaciers melting would also result in substantial emission of old carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and CH 4 . Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission was not stimulated by warming itself, but might be slightly enhanced by wetting. However, there are many uncertainties in such biogeochemical cycles under climate change. Human activities (e.g. grazing, land cover changes) further modified the biogeochemical cycles and amplified such uncertainties on the plateau. If the projected warming and wetting continues, the future biogeochemical cycles will be more complicated. So facing research in this field is an ongoing challenge of integrating field observations with process-based ecosystem models to predict the impacts of future climate change and human activities at various temporal and spatial scales. To reduce the uncertainties and to improve the precision of the predictions of the impacts of climate change and human activities on biogeochemical cycles, efforts should focus on conducting more field observation studies, integrating data within improved models, and developing new knowledge about coupling among carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles as well as about the role of microbes in these cycles.

Aims It remains unknown whether the treatment of hypertension influences the mortality of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods and results This is a retrospective observational study of all patients admitted with COVID-19 to Huo Shen Shan Hospital. The hospital was dedicated solely to the treatment of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Hypertension and the treatments were stratified according to the medical history or medications administrated prior to the infection. Among 2877 hospitalized patients, 29.5% (850/2877) had a history of hypertension. After adjustment for confounders, patients with hypertension had a two-fold increase in the relative risk of mortality as compared with patients without hypertension [4.0% vs. 1.1%, adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 2.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17–3.82, P = 0.013]. Patients with a history of hypertension but without antihypertensive treatment (n = 140) were associated with a significantly higher risk of mortality compared with those with antihypertensive treatments (n = 730) (7.9% vs. 3.2%, adjusted HR 2.17, 95% CI 1.03–4.57, P = 0.041). The mortality rates were similar between the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitor (4/183) and non-RAAS inhibitor (19/527) cohorts (2.2% vs. 3.6%, adjusted HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.28–2.58, P = 0.774). However, in a study-level meta-analysis of four studies, the result showed that patients with RAAS inhibitor use tend to have a lower risk of mortality (relative risk 0.65, 95% CI 0.45–0.94, P = 0.20). Conclusion While hypertension and the discontinuation of antihypertensive treatment are suspected to be related to increased risk of mortality, in this retrospective observational analysis, we did not detect any harm of RAAS inhibitors in patients infected with COVID-19. However, the results should be considered as exploratory and interpreted cautiously.

In resource-limited settings-where a massive scale up of HIV services has occurred in the last 5 years-both understanding the extent of and improving retention in care presents special challenges. First, retention in care within the decentralizing network of services is likely higher than existing estimates that account only for retention in clinic, and therefore antiretroviral therapy services may be more effective than currently believed. Second, both magnitude and determinants of patient retention vary substantially and therefore encouraging the conduct of locally relevant epidemiology is needed to inform programmatic decisions. Third, socio-structural factors such as program characteristics, transportation, poverty, work/child care responsibilities, and social relations are the major determinants of retention in care, and therefore interventions to improve retention in care should focus on implementation strategies. Research to assess and improve retention in care for HIV-infected patients can be strengthened by incorporating novel methods such as sampling-based approaches and a causal analytic framework.