The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge facing the world. Meteorological parameters are reportedly crucial factors affecting respiratory infectious disease epidemics; however, the effect of meteorological parameters on COVID-19 remains controversial. This study investigated the effects of temperature and relative humidity on daily new cases and daily new deaths of COVID-19, which has useful implications for policymakers and the public. Daily data on meteorological conditions, new cases and new deaths of COVID-19 were collected for 166 countries (excluding China) as of March 27, 2020. Log-linear generalized additive model was used to analyze the effects of temperature and relative humidity on daily new cases and daily new deaths of COVID-19, with potential confounders controlled for, including wind speed, median age of the national population, Global Health Security Index, Human Development Index and population density. Our findings revealed that temperature and relative humidity were both negatively related to daily new cases and deaths. A 1 °C increase in temperature was associated with a 3.08% (95% CI: 1.53%, 4.63%) reduction in daily new cases and a 1.19% (95% CI: 0.44%, 1.95%) reduction in daily new deaths, whereas a 1% increase in relative humidity was associated with a 0.85% (95% CI: 0.51%, 1.19%) reduction in daily new cases and a 0.51% (95% CI: 0.34%, 0.67%) reduction in daily new deaths. The results remained robust when different lag structures and the sensitivity analysis were used. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic may be partially suppressed with temperature and humidity increases. However, active measures must be taken to control the source of infection, block transmission and prevent further spread of COVID-19.

Preterm birth is defined as infants born alive before 37 completed weeks of gestation by the World Health Organization (WHO).¹ Globally, it is estimated that 14.84 million infants were born preterm in 2014, and this number is rising.² The preterm birth rate is 10.6% worldwide, ranging from 8.7% to 13.4% of infants born across regions.² In addition, the preterm birth rate varies significantly across countries, with an increasing trend in most industrialized countries.³ For example, the preterm birth rate in the US increased from 9.5% in 1981 to 12.7% in 2005.³ Preterm birth is truly a global problem, despite more than 60% of preterm births occuring in Africa and South Asia.¹

COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, was first reported in December 2019.¹ Globally, as of January 28, 2021, there have been 100 455 529 confirmed cases, including 2 166 440 deaths.² The disease course of COVID-19 ranges from asymptomatic to mild respiratory infections to pneumonia and even to acute respiratory distress syndrome.³ Patients with no symptoms at screening point were defined as having asymptomatic infections, which included infected people who have not yet developed symptoms but go on to develop symptoms later (presymptomatic infections), and those who are infected but never develop any symptoms (true asymptomatic or covert infections).^4,5 Owing to the absence of symptoms, these patients would not seek medical care and could not be detected by temperature screening. Presymptomatic transmission will also make temperature screening less effective.⁶ Only extensive testing and close contact tracing could lead to identification of more asymptomatic infections.⁷

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health problem worldwide. China has the world's largest burden of HBV infection and will be a major contributor towards the global elimination of hepatitis B disease by 2030. The country has made good progress in reducing incidence of HBV infection in the past three decades. The achievements are mainly due to high vaccination coverages among children and high coverage of timely birth-dose vaccine for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HBV (both > 95%). However, China still faces challenges in achieving its target of 65% reduction in mortality from hepatitis B by 2030. Based on targets of the World Health Organization's Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-2021, we highlight further priorities for action towards HBV elimination in China. To achieve the impact target of reduced mortality we suggest that the service coverage targets of diagnosis and treatment should be prioritized. First, improvements are needed in the diagnostic and treatment abilities of medical institutions and health workers. Second, the government needs to reduce the financial burden of health care on patients. Third, better coordination is needed across existing national programmes and resources to establish an integrated prevention and control system that covers prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of HBV infection across the life cycle. In this way, progress can be made towards achieving the target of eliminating hepatitis B in China by 2030.

In December 2019, multiple cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), were reported in Wuhan, China.¹ On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. To date, the transmission of COVID-19 is still difficult to contain, as confirmed and death cases are still increasing. Up to March 16, 2022, 460 280 168 confirmed cases and 6 050 018 confirmed deaths have been reported to the WHO.² Rapid spread of COVID-19 has had enormous social, economic, and health care system effects around the world. Effective treatment to block the spread of COVID-19 is not developed yet, so countries have implemented a series of nontreatment interventions such as social distancing, isolation, face mask mandates, and quarantining to reduce its rapid transmission.³ Existing evidence has shown that most of COVID-19 cases are missed by screening because infected persons are unaware they were exposed and have not developed symptoms yet.^4-6

The oncoproteins MDM2 and MDMX negatively regulate the activity and stability of the tumor suppressor protein p53—a cellular process initiated by MDM2 and/or MDMX binding to the N-terminal transactivation domain of p53. MDM2 and MDMX in many tumors confer p53 inactivation and tumor survival, and are important molecular targets for anticancer therapy. We screened a duodecimal peptide phage library against site-specifically biotinylated p53-binding domains of human MDM2 and MDMX chemically synthesized via native chemical ligation, and identified several peptide inhibitors of the p53-MDM2/MDMX interactions. The most potent inhibitor (TSFAEYWNLLSP), termed PMI, bound to MDM2 and MDMX at low nanomolar affinities—approximately 2 orders of magnitude stronger than the wild-type p53 peptide of the same length (ETFSDLWKLLPE). We solved the crystal structures of synthetic MDM2 and MDMX, both in complex with PMI, at 1.6 Å resolution. Comparative structural analysis identified an extensive, tightened intramolecular H-bonding network in bound PMI that contributed to its conformational stability, thus enhanced binding to the 2 oncogenic proteins. Importantly, the C-terminal residue Pro of PMI induced formation of a hydrophobic cleft in MDMX previously unseen in the structures of p53-bound MDM2 or MDMX. Our findings deciphered the structural basis for high-affinity peptide inhibition of p53 interactions with MDM2 and MDMX, shedding new light on structure-based rational design of different classes of p53 activators for potential therapeutic use.