The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attitudes towards the lifting of con nement. Methods: The data were collected using a questionnaire applied to 344 people in different regions of Algeria from April 21, 2020, for two weeks afterward, in order to determine the attitudes of the Algerian people towards the post-coronavirus COVID-19 phase. Results: The results of this study indicate that 94.2% of respondents insist on lifting the con nement to apply gradually and partially. Accordingly, there is a signi cant impact of gender and age on social attitudes towards the post-coronavirus phase. Similarly, the results highlighted the existence of a positive level of attitude towards the post-coronavirus phase COVID-19 in the need to digitize education, digitize social transactions, and develop sustainable transport and the public health sector. Results: People living in con nement indicate that it is necessary to prepare for the post-coronavirus period, in particular through the vital sectors linked to daily life.

Developing an anti-infective shape-memory hemostatic sponge able to guide in situ tissue regeneration for noncompressible hemorrhages in civilian and battlefield settings remains a challenge. Here we engineer hemostatic chitosan sponges with highly interconnective microchannels by combining 3D printed microfiber leaching, freeze-drying, and superficial active modification. We demonstrate that the microchannelled alkylated chitosan sponge (MACS) exhibits the capacity for water and blood absorption, as well as rapid shape recovery. We show that compared to clinically used gauze, gelatin sponge, CELOX™, and CELOX™-gauze, the MACS provides higher pro-coagulant and hemostatic capacities in lethally normal and heparinized rat and pig liver perforation wound models. We demonstrate its anti-infective activity against S. aureus and E. coli and its promotion of liver parenchymal cell infiltration, vascularization, and tissue integration in a rat liver defect model. Overall, the MACS demonstrates promising clinical translational potential in treating lethal noncompressible hemorrhage and facilitating wound healing.

Background The aging rate in Taiwan is the second highest in the world. As the population ages quickly, the prevalence of dementia increases rapidly. There are some studies that have explored the association between air pollution and cognitive decline, but the association between air pollution and dementia has not been directly evaluated. Methods This was a case-control study comprising 249 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, 125 vascular dementia (VaD) patients, and 497 controls from three teaching hospitals in northern Taiwan from 2007 to 2010. Data of particulate matter <10 μm in diameter (PM 10 ) and ozone were obtained from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration for 12 and 14 years, respectively. Blood samples were collected to determine the apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) ɛ4 haplotype. Bayesian maximum entropy was used to estimate the individual exposure level of air pollutants, which was then tertiled for analysis. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals between the association of PM 10 and ozone exposure with AD and VaD risk. Results The highest tertile of PM 10 (≥49.23 μg/m 3 ) or ozone (≥21.56 ppb) exposure was associated with increased AD risk (highest vs. lowest tertile of PM 10 : AOR = 4.17; highest vs. lowest tertile of ozone: AOR = 2.00). Similar finding was observed for VaD. The association with AD and VaD risk remained for the highest tertile PM 10 exposure after stratification by APOE ɛ4 status and gender. Conclusions Long-term exposure to the highest tertile of PM 10 or ozone was significantly associated with an increased risk of AD and VaD.

In an effort to identify tumor-associated proteins from plasma of tumor-bearing mice that may be used as diagnostic biomarkers, we developed a strategy that combines a tumor xenotransplantation model in nude mice with comparative proteomic technology. Five human cancer cell lines (SC-M1, HONE-1, CC-M1, OECM1, GBM 8401) derived from stomach, nasopharyngeal, colon, oral and brain cancers were subcutaneously inoculated into nude mice and compared to control nude mice injected with phosphate-buffered saline. One month later, plasma from mice inoculated with cancer cells was collected for proteomic analysis using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS). Comparison of plasma 2-DE maps from tumor-bearing mice with those produced from control mice revealed the overexpression of several mouse acute phase proteins (APPs) such as haptoglobin. Another APP, serum amyloid A (SAA), was found only in mice bearing tumors induced by the stomach cancer cell line SC-M1, which has not previously been demonstrated in xenotransplatation experiment. Furthermore, by using immunohistochemistry, SAA and haptoglobin were found to originate from the mouse hosts and not from the human cancer cell line donors. The protein alterations were further confirmed on patients with stomach cancers where up-regulated levels of SAA were also observed. These results indicate that APPs may be used as nonspecific tumor-associated serum markers. SAA in particular may serve as a potential marker for detecting stomach cancer. Taken together, the combination of the xenotransplatation model in nude mice and proteomics analysis provided a valuable impact for clinical applications in cancer diagnostics. In addition, our findings demonstrate that a panel of APPs might serve as screening biomarkers for early cancer detection.

PbTe has been leading the advancements in the field of thermoelectricity due to its capability for demonstrating and integrating various new concepts. However, the toxicity of Pb is always a concern for terrestrial applications, which inspired great advancement to be achieved very recently in its alternative analogue SnTe. Challenges making p-type SnTe as thermoelectrically efficient as PbTe rely on a reduction of its carrier concentration, valence band offset, and lattice thermal conductivity. Utilization of newly developed concepts including both band and defect engineering amazingly increases the thermoelectric figure of merit, zT, from 0.4 up to 1.6 while remaining a nontoxic composition. The corresponding conceptual route diagram is surveyed, and future considerations on composition, crystal structure, and microstructure for further advancements are discussed in this Perspective. Concepts discussed here not only have promoted SnTe as a highly efficient environment-friendly thermoelectric material but also guided advancements in many other thermoelectrics.