As of April 18, 2020, over 2,000,000 patients had been diagnosed with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) globally, and more than 140,000 deaths had been reported. The clinical and epidemiological ...characteristics of adult patients have been documented recently. However, information on pediatric patients is limited. We describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients to provide valuable insight into the early diagnosis and assessment of COVID-19 in children.
This retrospective, observational study involves a case series performed at 4 hospitals in West China. Thirty-four pediatric patients with COVID-19 were included from January 27 to February 23, 2020. The final follow-up visit was completed by March 16, 2020. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics were analyzed on the basis of demographic data, medical history, laboratory tests, radiological findings, and treatment information. Data analysis was performed for 34 pediatrics patients with COVID-19 aged from 1 to 144 months (median 33.00, interquartile range 10.00-94.25), among whom 14 males (41%) were included. All the patients in the current study presented mild (18%) or moderate (82%) forms of COVID-19. A total of 48% of patients were noted to be without a history of exposure to an identified source. Mixed infections of other respiratory pathogens were reported in 16 patients (47%). Comorbidities were reported in 6 patients (18%). The most common initial symptoms were fever (76%) and cough (62%). Expectoration (21%), vomiting (12%), and diarrhea (12%) were also reported in a considerable portion of cases. A substantial increase was detected in serum amyloid A for 17 patients (among 20 patients with available data; 85%) and in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein for 17 patients (among 29 patients with available data; 59%), whereas a decrease in prealbumin was noticed in 25 patients (among 32 patients with available data; 78%). In addition, significant increases in the levels of lactate dehydrogenase and α-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase were detected in 28 patients (among 34 patients with available data; 82%) and 25 patients (among 34 patients with available data; 74%), respectively. Patchy lesions in lobules were detected by chest computed tomographic scans in 28 patients (82%). Ground-glass opacities, which were a typical feature in adults, were rare in pediatric patients (3%). Rapid radiologic progression and a late-onset pattern of lesions in the lobules were also noticed. Lesions in lobules still existed in 24 (among 32 patients with lesions; 75%) patients that were discharged, although the main symptoms disappeared a few days after treatment. All patients were discharged, and the median duration of hospitalization was 10.00 (8.00-14.25) days. The current study was limited by the small sample size and a lack of dynamic detection of inflammatory markers.
Our data systemically presented the clinical and epidemiological features, as well as the outcomes, of pediatric patients with COVID-19. Stratified analysis was performed between mild and moderate cases. The findings offer new insight into early identification and intervention in pediatric patients with COVID-19.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although low-temperature, solution-processed zinc oxide (ZnO) has been widely adopted as the electron collection layer (ECL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) because of its simple synthesis and ...excellent electrical properties such as high charge mobility, the thermal stability of the perovskite films deposited atop ZnO layer remains as a major issue. Herein, we addressed this problem by employing aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) as the ECL and obtained extraordinarily thermally stable perovskite layers. The improvement of the thermal stability was ascribed to diminish of the Lewis acid–base chemical reaction between perovskite and ECL. Notably, the outstanding transmittance and conductivity also render AZO layer as an ideal candidate for transparent conductive electrodes, which enables a simplified cell structure featuring glass/AZO/perovskite/Spiro-OMeTAD/Au. Optimization of the perovskite layer leads to an excellent and repeatable photovoltaic performance, with the champion cell exhibiting an open-circuit voltage (V oc) of 0.94 V, a short-circuit current (J sc) of 20.2 mA cm–2, a fill factor (FF) of 0.67, and an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12.6% under standard 1 sun illumination. It was also revealed by steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence that the AZO/perovskite interface resulted in less quenching than that between perovskite and hole transport material.
Material growth by van der Waals epitaxy has the potential to isolate monolayer (ML) materials and synthesize ultrathin films not easily prepared by exfoliation or other growth methods. Here, the ...synthesis of the early transition metal (Ti, V, and Cr) tellurides by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in the mono- to few-layer regime is investigated. The layered ditellurides of these materials are known for their intriguing quantum- and layer dependent- properties. Here we show by a combination of in situ sample characterization and comparison with computational predictions that ML ditellurides with octahedral 1T structure are readily grown, but for multilayers, the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) formation competes with self-intercalated compounds. CrTe2, a TMDC that is known to be metastable in bulk and easily decomposes into intercalation compounds, has been synthesized successfully in the ML regime at low growth temperatures. At elevated growth temperatures or for multilayers, only the intercalation compound, equivalent to a bulk Cr3Te4, could be obtained. ML VTe2 is more stable and can be synthesized at higher growth temperatures in the ML regime, but multilayers also convert to a bulk-equivalent V3Te4 compound. TiTe2 is the most stable of the TMDCs studied; nevertheless, a detailed analysis of multilayers also indicates the presence of intercalated metals. Computation suggests that the intercalation-induced distortion of the TMDC-layers is much reduced in Ti-telluride compared to V-, and Cr-telluride. This makes the identification of intercalated materials by scanning tunneling microscopy more challenging for Ti-telluride. The identification of self-intercalation compounds in MBE grown multilayer chalcogenides may explain observed lattice distortions in previously reported MBE grown early transition metal chalcogenides. On the other hand, these intercalation compounds in their ultrathin limit can be considered van der Waals materials in their own right. This class of materials is only accessible by direct growth methods but may be used as “building blocks” in MBE-grown van der Waals heterostructures. Controlling their growth is an important step for understanding and studying the properties of these materials.
Metal nanoclusters (NCs) hold great potential as novel luminescent nanomaterials in many applications, while the synthesis of highly luminescent metal NCs still remains challenging. In this work, we ...report self-assembling peptides as a novel bioinspired scaffold capable of significantly enhancing the luminescence efficiency of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs). The resulting AuNCs capped with motif-designed peptides can self-assemble to form nanofiber structures, in which the luminescence of AuNCs is enhanced nearly 70-fold, with 21.3% quantum yield. The underlying mechanism responsible for the luminescence enhancement has been thoroughly investigated by the combined use of different spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The resultant highly luminescent AuNC-decorated peptide nanofibers exhibit physicochemical properties that are advantageous for biological applications. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the use of these nanostructure as fluorescent thermometers and for imaging living cells, both showing very promising results.
The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) molecular system has emerged as a promising technology for the detection of nucleic acids. Herein, the development of a surface ...plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor that is functionalized with a layer of locally grown graphdiyne film, achieving excellent sensing performance when coupled with catalytically deactivated CRISPR‐associated protein 9 (dCas9), is reported. dCas9 protein is immobilized on the sensor surface and complexed with a specific single‐guide RNA, enabling the amplification‐free detection of target sequences within genomic DNA. The sensor, termed CRISPR‐SPR‐Chip, is used to successfully analyze recombinant plasmids with only three‐base mutations with a limit of detection as low as 1.3 fM. Real‐time monitoring CRISPR‐SPR‐Chip is used to analyze clinical samples of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy with two exon deletions, which are detected without any pre‐amplification step, yielding significantly positive results within 5 min. The ability of this novel CRISPR‐empowered SPR (CRISPR‐eSPR) sensing platform to rapidly, precisely, sensitively, and specifically detect a target gene sequence provides a new on‐chip optic approach for clinical gene analysis.
This paper presents a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based, femtomolar‐level, pre‐amplification‐free, real‐time genomic DNAs quantification platform "CRISPR‐eSPR". This unprecedented specificity and efficiency are achieved by the innovative marriage of the unique sequence‐specific recognizing ability of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas system and the superior sensitivity of the 2D‐material enforced Surface Plasmon Resonance sensor. The feasibility of clinical diagnosis has been strongly proved.
Glioma is often referred to as one of the most dreadful central nervous system (CNS)-specific tumors with rapidly-proliferating cancerous glial cells, accounting for nearly half of the brain tumors ...at an annual incidence rate of 30-80 per a million population. Although glioma treatment remains a significant challenge for researchers and clinicians, the rapid development of nanomedicine provides tremendous opportunities for long-term glioma therapy. However, several obstacles impede the development of novel therapeutics, such as the very tight blood-brain barrier (BBB), undesirable hypoxia, and complex tumor microenvironment (TME). Several efforts have been dedicated to exploring various nanoformulations for improving BBB permeation and precise tumor ablation to address these challenges. Initially, this article briefly introduces glioma classification and various pathogenic factors. Further, currently available therapeutic approaches are illustrated in detail, including traditional chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical practices. Then, different innovative treatment strategies, such as tumor-treating fields, gene therapy, immunotherapy, and phototherapy, are emphasized. In conclusion, we summarize the article with interesting perspectives, providing suggestions for future glioma diagnosis and therapy improvement.
Glioma originates from the aberrant proliferation of brain glial cells, accounting for the highest mortality among major CNS malignancies. Apart from traditional surgical ablation, there still lacks effective long-term therapy. In the present review, glioma pathogenesis and conventional treatments are firstly illustrated. Recent advancements in glioma diagnosis and therapeutics based on nanomaterials are then categorized and discussed with suggestions for future improvement. Display omitted
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•Using PTH in clinical wound treatment can be a question. PTHrP-2 is designed to solve this.•The PTHrP-2 loaded cellulose acetate nanofiber mat promotes angiogenesis, collagen ...formation and re-epithelialization.•The addition of PTHrP-2 to cellulose acetate nanofiber mats up to 5 wt% benefits the wound repair.
Although various dressings currently used have the effect of promoting wound healing, they still cannot meet the requirements of clinically efficient treatment. Recently, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and its pathway have been shown as the new target for wound repair. However, using PTH in clinical wound treatment can be a question. This study is to develop a novel PTHrP-2 loaded cellulose acetate nanofiber mat (CAP) via electrospinning to benefit wound repair. By observing the effects of prepared CAP on cell proliferation, migration, tube formation, and wound healing in the rat models, we have evaluated the safety and effectiveness of CAP. With the extract of CAP, the viability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and fibroblasts was enhanced. It also could significantly increase the movement rate of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and promote tube formation. The wound closure speed of CAP treatment was significantly faster than the cellulose acetate group. In conclusion, CAP has a promoting effect in angiogenesis, collagen formation and re-epithelialization, thereby it can accelerate wound healing. CAP is a promising translational nanocomposite material, which might be transferred into a new type of wound dressing.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a necessary but insufficient cause of a subset of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) that is increasing markedly in frequency. To identify contributory, secondary ...genetic alterations in these cancers, we used comprehensive genomics methods to compare 149 HPV-positive and 335 HPV-negative OSCC tumor/normal pairs. Different behavioral risk factors underlying the two OSCC types were reflected in distinctive genomic mutational signatures. In HPV-positive OSCCs, the signatures of APOBEC cytosine deaminase editing, associated with anti-viral immunity, were strongly linked to overall mutational burden. In contrast, in HPV-negative OSCCs, T>C substitutions in the sequence context 5'-ATN-3' correlated with tobacco exposure. Universal expression of HPV
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Of these, many affect host pathways already targeted by HPV oncoproteins, including the p53 and pRB pathways, or disrupt host defenses against viral infections, including interferon (IFN) and nuclear factor kappa B signaling. Frequent copy number changes were associated with concordant changes in gene expression. Chr 11q (including
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Genomic instability is a hallmark of human cancers, including the 5% caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Here we report a striking association between HPV integration and adjacent host genomic ...structural variation in human cancer cell lines and primary tumors. Whole-genome sequencing revealed HPV integrants flanking and bridging extensive host genomic amplifications and rearrangements, including deletions, inversions, and chromosomal translocations. We present a model of "looping" by which HPV integrant-mediated DNA replication and recombination may result in viral-host DNA concatemers, frequently disrupting genes involved in oncogenesis and amplifying HPV oncogenes E6 and E7. Our high-resolution results shed new light on a catastrophic process, distinct from chromothripsis and other mutational processes, by which HPV directly promotes genomic instability.
Interlayer interactions in layered transition metal dichalcogenides are known to be important for describing their electronic properties. Here, we demonstrate that the absence of interlayer coupling ...in monolayer VTe2 also causes their structural modification from a distorted 1T′ structure in bulk and multilayer samples to a hexagonal 1T structure in the monolayer. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy indicates that this structural transition is associated with electron transfer from the vanadium d bands to the tellurium atoms for the monolayer. This charge transfer may reduce the in-plane d orbital hybridization and thus favor the undistorted 1T structure. Phonon-dispersion calculations show that, in contrast to the 1T′ structure, the 1T structure exhibits imaginary phonon modes that lead to a charge density wave (CDW) instability, which is also observed by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy as a 4 × 4 periodic lattice distortion. Thus, this work demonstrates a novel CDW material, whose properties are tuned by interlayer interactions.
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