To determine the vaccine hesitancy of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) in a low-resource setting in China and to identify associated factors, a face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted in the city of Guilin, China, from December 2021 to March 2022, which comprised sociodemographic information, attitudes toward vaccines and pneumonia, and PCV13 vaccination willingness and willingness to pay (WTP). Stepwise logistic regression and Tobit regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with PCV13 vaccination willingness and WTP, respectively. In total, 1254 questionnaires were included, of which 899, 254, and 101 participants showed acceptance, hesitancy, and refusal to vaccinate their children with PCV13, respectively. Only 39.07% of participants knew about PCV13 before this survey. A total of 558 (48.40%) participants accepted the full payment of vaccination, and 477 (41.37%) other participants accepted the partial payment, with a median cost of CNY 920.00. Demographics, social and psychological context, and attitudes toward vaccines were all associated with PCV13 vaccination but varied for hesitators and refusers. There is a substantial local demand for vaccinating children with PCV13 and partial payment is widely accepted. More publicity and educational efforts and a socially supportive environment are required to alleviate vaccine hesitancy.

It is necessary to explore the potential applications of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on graphene metasurfaces and enhance the performance of their on-off modulators and slow-light effect. A simple monolayer graphene metasurface is developed for achieving the plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) phenomenon in the terahertz range. PIT can be effectively tuned by the positional parameter, the Fermi level, and the carrier mobility using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD). Moreover, it is found that a quad-frequency on-off modulator and an outstanding slow-light effect can be realized in this proposed metasurface. Interestingly, modulation depth (MD), insertion loss (IL), ΔT, and the group index are of 98.90%, %0.05 dB, 0.97, and 3383, respectively. Hence, the results show that the proposed metasurface has excellent performance for on-off modulators and a slow-light effect, which can provide theoretical guidance for designing terahertz micro-nanophotonic devices.

Background Natural cytotoxicity receptor negative innate lymphoid cell (NCR−ILC3) involves into mucosal homeostasis, inflammation regulation and tissue remodeling. The proportion of NCR−ILC3 is increased in the lung of smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there's still few understandings on the role of NCR−ILC3 in COPD pathogenesis. Methods COPD mice were induced by cigarette smoking. The pathology in lung was detected in histology. The frequency of NCR−ILC3 (CD3‐CD45+RORγt+NkP46‐) from murine lung was detected using flow cytometry. IL‐17+RORγt+ double positive cells in lung were assessed by double immunofluorescence staining. The protein expressions of epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, namely E‐cadherin and Vimentin, were assessed using immunohistochemistry staining and western blotting. Results The frequency of NCR−ILC3 in lung was higher in COPD group than controls. The IL‐17+RORγt+ cells in lung from COPD mice were more than controls. E‐cadherin expression was decreased but Vimentin expression was increased in lung of COPD mice, when compared with controls. The frequency of NCR−ILC3 in lung tissues were positively correlated with mean linear intercept in lung, destructive index in lung and EMT, respectively. Conclusions NCR−ILC3 could contribute to emphysema and EMT in lung of cigarette smoking‐induced COPD, which will provide further understanding on COPD pathogenesis of immune response.

Background: Th2 cells and IL-4 are involved in the pathogenesis of eosinophil infiltration in almost all types of asthma.In peripheral blood of asthmatic patients, methtyl-CpG binding domain protein 2 (MBD2) expression in CD4+ T cells is increased. So, the study’s objective: 1.to investigate the expression of MBD2, IRF4, Th2 cell and IL-4 in severe asthma mice; 2. to investigate whether MBD2 affects the differentiation and function of Th2 cell in mice through IRF4.. Methods: 1. C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups: severe asthma group, conventional asthma group, and saline group. HE pathology, immunohistochemistry and WB were used to observe the expression of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and IL-4 in lung tissue. The positive rate of CD4 + Th2 cell from lung and spleen were detected by flow cytometry; 2. The CD4 + T cells derived from mouse spleen were divided into control group, empty transfection group, MBD2 silencing group (M(-)), MBD2 overexpression group (M(+)), IRF4 silencing group (I(-)), IRF4 overexpression group (I(+)). Th2 cells were cultured under directed differentiation conditions. The positive rate of Th2 cell was detected by flow cytometry. The expressions of IL-4, IRF4 and MBD2 were measured by WB; 3.Mouse spleen-derived CD4 + T cells were divided into control, empty transfection(M(0)/I(0)), M(-)/I(0), M(+)/I(0), M(-)/I(-), M(-)/I(+), M(+)/I(-) and M(+)/I(+) group. Th2 cells were cultured under directed differentiation conditions. The positive rate of Th2 cell was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of IL-4, IRF4 and MBD2 were measured by WB. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 25.0. The Independent‑samples t‑test was used for comparison of continuous variables between groups. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. Results: 1. There was no significant difference in ECP, IL-4 and Th2 positive rates between severe asthma group and conventional asthma group; 2. The positive rate of Th2 cells and expression of IL-4 in M (-) group increased, while the expression of IRF4 decreased. The positive rate of Th2 cells and expression of IL-4 in M (+) group decreased, while the expression of IRF4 in M (+) group was higher than empty transfection group. The expression of IL-4 decreased in I (-) group and increased in I (+) group; 3. The positive rate of Th2 cells and expression of IL-4 in M(+)/I(-) group decreased, while the positive rate of Th2 cells and expression of IL-4 in M(-)/I(+) group increased significantly. Conclusions: 1. MBD2 inhibits the differentiation and function of Th2 cells in spleen-derived CD4 + T cells of mice directly, but MBD2 promotes the expression of IL-4 through enhancing the expression of IRF4; 2.MBD2 participates in the differentiation and function of Th2 cells in severe asthma through promotion of IRF4 indirectly and inhibition of Th2 cells directly, so IL-4 expression and Th2 positive rates were no significant difference; 3.MBD2 could play dual immune effect regulating Th2 cell differentiation through IL-4 in severe asthma.