Since early December 2019, the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei province of China. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the ...progression of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. Associated results will be used to evaluate the prognosis and to find the optimal treatment regimens for COVID-19 pneumonia.
Patients tested positive for the COVID-19 based on nucleic acid detection were included in this study. Patients were admitted to 3 tertiary hospitals in Wuhan between December 30, 2019, and January 15, 2020. Individual data, laboratory indices, imaging characteristics, and clinical data were collected, and statistical analysis was performed. Based on clinical typing results, the patients were divided into a progression group or an improvement/stabilization group. Continuous variables were analyzed using independent samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical variables were analyzed using Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the risk factors for disease progression.
Seventy-eight patients with COVID-19-induced pneumonia met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Efficacy evaluation at 2 weeks after hospitalization indicated that 11 patients (14.1%) had deteriorated, and 67 patients (85.9%) had improved/stabilized. The patients in the progression group were significantly older than those in the disease improvement/stabilization group (66 51, 70 vs. 37 32, 41 years, U = 4.932, P = 0.001). The progression group had a significantly higher proportion of patients with a history of smoking than the improvement/stabilization group (27.3% vs. 3.0%, χ = 9.291, P = 0.018). For all the 78 patients, fever was the most common initial symptom, and the maximum body temperature at admission was significantly higher in the progression group than in the improvement/stabilization group (38.2 37.8, 38.6 vs. 37.5 37.0, 38.4°C, U = 2.057, P = 0.027). Moreover, the proportion of patients with respiratory failure (54.5% vs. 20.9%, χ = 5.611, P = 0.028) and respiratory rate (34 18, 48 vs. 24 16, 60 breaths/min, U = 4.030, P = 0.004) were significantly higher in the progression group than in the improvement/stabilization group. C-reactive protein was significantly elevated in the progression group compared to the improvement/stabilization group (38.9 14.3, 64.8 vs. 10.6 1.9, 33.1 mg/L, U = 1.315, P = 0.024). Albumin was significantly lower in the progression group than in the improvement/stabilization group (36.62 ± 6.60 vs. 41.27 ± 4.55 g/L, U = 2.843, P = 0.006). Patients in the progression group were more likely to receive high-level respiratory support than in the improvement/stabilization group (χ = 16.01, P = 0.001). Multivariate logistic analysis indicated that age (odds ratio OR, 8.546; 95% confidence interval CI: 1.628-44.864; P = 0.011), history of smoking (OR, 14.285; 95% CI: 1.577-25.000; P = 0.018), maximum body temperature at admission (OR, 8.999; 95% CI: 1.036-78.147, P = 0.046), respiratory failure (OR, 8.772, 95% CI: 1.942-40.000; P = 0.016), albumin (OR, 7.353, 95% CI: 1.098-50.000; P = 0.003), and C-reactive protein (OR, 10.530; 95% CI: 1.224-34.701, P = 0.028) were risk factors for disease progression.
Several factors that led to the progression of COVID-19 pneumonia were identified, including age, history of smoking, maximum body temperature at admission, respiratory failure, albumin, and C-reactive protein. These results can be used to further enhance the ability of management of COVID-19 pneumonia.
A
bstract
Understanding the spin structure of hadrons in the small
x
regime is an important direction to unravel the spin puzzle in hadronic physics. To include spin degrees of freedom in the small
x
...regime requires going beyond the usual eikonal approximation in high energy QCD. We developed an effective Hamiltonian approach to study spin related observables in the small
x
regime using the shockwave formalism. The small-
x
effective Hamiltonian incorporates both quark and gluon propagators in the background fields and the background field induced interaction vertices up to next-to-eikonal order. A novel feature of sub-eikonal interactions is the background gluon field induced gluon radiation inside the shockwave. Its relation to chromo-electrically polarized Wilson line correlator is established both in small
x
helicity evolution and in longitudinal double-spin asymmetry for gluon production.
The challenges of developing neuromorphic vision systems inspired by the human eye come not only from how to recreate the flexibility, sophistication, and adaptability of animal systems, but also how ...to do so with computational efficiency and elegance. Similar to biological systems, these neuromorphic circuits integrate functions of image sensing, memory and processing into the device, and process continuous analog brightness signal in real-time. High-integration, flexibility and ultra-sensitivity are essential for practical artificial vision systems that attempt to emulate biological processing. Here, we present a flexible optoelectronic sensor array of 1024 pixels using a combination of carbon nanotubes and perovskite quantum dots as active materials for an efficient neuromorphic vision system. The device has an extraordinary sensitivity to light with a responsivity of 5.1 × 10
A/W and a specific detectivity of 2 × 10
Jones, and demonstrates neuromorphic reinforcement learning by training the sensor array with a weak light pulse of 1 μW/cm
.
Lung cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and has a poor prognosis. Conventional treatments are not effective for metastatic lung cancer therapy. Although some of molecular targets have ...been identified with favorable response, those targets cannot be exploited due to the lack of suitable drug carriers. Lung cancer cell-derived exosomes (LCCDEs) receive recent interest in its role in carcinogenesis, diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis of lung cancer due to its biological functions and natural ability to carry donor cell biomolecules. LCCDEs can promote cell proliferation and metastasis, affect angiogenesis, modulate antitumor immune responses during lung cancer carcinogenesis, regulate drug resistance in lung cancer therapy, and be now considered an important component in liquid biopsy assessments for detecting lung cancer. Therapeutic deliverable exosomes are emerging as promising drug delivery agents specifically to tumor high precision medicine because of their natural intercellular communication role, excellent biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, low toxicity, long blood circulation ability, biodegradable characteristics, and their ability to cross various biological barriers. Several studies are currently underway to develop novel diagnostic and prognostic modalities using LCCDEs, and to develop methods of exploiting exosomes for use as efficient drug delivery vehicles. Current status of lung cancer and extensive applicability of LCCDEs are illustrated in this review. The promising data and technologies indicate that the approach on LCCDEs implies the potential application of LCCDEs to clinical management of lung cancer patients.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Current nonlinear optical materials face a conventional limitation in the trade‐off between the band gap and birefringence, especially in the deep UV spectral region. To circumvent this dilemma, we ...propose a general principle, π‐conjugated confinement, to partially decouple the interunit π‐conjugated interactions by the separation of non‐π‐conjugated units. The goal is to further enlarge the band gap to a value larger than that of the singular π‐conjugated counterpart and to maintain a suitable density of π‐conjugated units to gain a large optical anisotropy. We reveal that π‐conjugated confinement is a shared structural feature for all DUV NLO materials known to date, and thus, it provides a novel and essential design criterion for future design synthesis. Guided by this principle, the carbonophosphates are predicted to be a new promising DUV candidate system. Sr3YPO4CO33 (1) and Na3XPO4CO3 (X=Ba, Sr, Ca, Mg, 2–5) exhibit not only greatly enhanced birefringence that is 3–24 times larger than that of singular phosphates but also enhanced band gaps that are 0.2–1.7 eV wider than those of singular carbonates.
We propose a general principle, π‐conjugated confinement, for the rational design of high‐performance DUV NLO materials whose band gaps are further enhanced. This principle is valid for all the DUV NLO materials known to date (the Chinese lunar year of the ox). Guided by this approach, the carbonophosphates are discovered for the first time as new DUV NLO candidates. Sr3YPO4CO33 exhibits the shortest SHG output laser among phosphates to date.
Electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) into high‐value and readily collectable liquid products is vital but remains a substantial challenge due to the lack of highly efficient and robust ...electrocatalysts. Herein, Bi‐based metal‐organic framework (CAU‐17) derived leafy bismuth nanosheets with a hybrid Bi/BiO interface (Bi NSs) is developed, which enables CO2 reduction to formic acid (HCOOH) with high activity, selectivity, and stability. Specially, the flow cell configuration is employed to eliminate the diffusion effect of CO2 molecules and simultaneously achieve considerable current density (200 mA cm−2) for industrial application. The faradaic efficiency for transforming CO2 to HCOOH can achieve over 85 or 90% in 1 m KHCO3 or KOH for at least 10 h despite a current density that exceeds 200 mA cm−2, outperforming most of the reported CO2 electroreduction catalysts. The hybrid Bi/BiO surface of leafy bismuth nanosheets boosts the adsorption of CO2 and protects the surface structure of the as‐prepared leafy bismuth nanosheets, which benefits its activity and stability for CO2 electroreduction. This work shows that modifying electrocatalysts by surface oxygen groups is a promising pathway to regulate the activity and stability for selective CO2 reduction to HCOOH.
Herein, leafy bismuth nanosheets are shown to achieve CO2 electroreduction to HCOOH with high activity (>200 mA cm−2), selectivity (>90%) and stability (>10 h) by employing in gas diffusion cell configuration. According to the in‐depth characterizations, the large electrochemically accessible surface area and the superficial BiO species for Bi nanosheets are the key factors that enable the high catalytic activity.
Fatty acid oxidation (FAO) dysfunction is one of the important mechanisms of renal fibrosis. Sirtuin 3 (Sirt3) has been confirmed to alleviate acute kidney injury (AKI) by improving mitochondrial ...function and participate in the regulation of FAO in other disease models. However, it is not clear whether Sirt3 is involved in regulating FAO to improve the prognosis of AKI induced by cisplatin. Here, using a murine model of cisplatin‐induced AKI, we revealed that there were significantly FAO dysfunction and extensive lipid deposition in the mice with AKI. Metabolomics analysis suggested reprogrammed energy metabolism and decreased ATP production. In addition, fatty acid deposition can increase reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and induce apoptosis. Our data suggested that Sirt3 deletion aggravated FAO dysfunction, resulting in increased apoptosis of kidney tissues and aggravated renal injury. The activation of Sirt3 by honokiol could improve FAO and renal function and reduced fatty acid deposition in wide‐type mice, but not Sirt3‐defective mice. We concluded that Sirt3 may regulate FAO by deacetylating liver kinase B1 and activating AMP‐activated protein kinase. Also, the activation of Sirt3 by honokiol increased ATP production as well as reduced ROS and lipid peroxidation through improving mitochondrial function. Collectively, these results provide new evidence that Sirt3 is protective against AKI. Enhancing Sirt3 to improve FAO may be a potential strategy to prevent kidney injury in the future.
To investigate the factors associated with age at natural menopause in a large population of Chinese adult women.
This cross-sectional study was part of the baseline survey of China Kadoorie Biobank ...in Zhejiang Province. A total of 17,076 postmenopausal women were included in the present study. Relevant data of socio-demographic, lifestyle, dietary and reproductive characteristics were collected. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the associated factors of age at natural menopause with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported.
The mean age at natural menopause was 48.94 years, with 3.40% of the women experienced premature menopause and 6.75% early menopause. Younger age, higher education, consumption of meat (1-3 days per week) and increased parity were associated with late menopause. Current smoking, underweight, higher physical activity, consumption of sea food (1-3 days per week), fresh eggs (≥4 days per week), fresh fruits (≥1 day per week), taking vitamins, experiencing severe food shortage, earlier age at menarche and older age at first birth were associated with earlier age at natural menopause.
These results suggest that certain factors involved with socio-demographic, lifestyle, dietary and reproductive characteristics are related to the age at natural menopause in Chinese women.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract We study the diffusive dynamics of a system in a nonlinear velocity-dependent frictional environment within a continuous time random walk model. In this model, the motion is governed by a ...shear-thinning frictional force, − γ 0 v / 1 + ( v 2 / v c 2 ) μ ( 0 < μ ⩽ 1 ), where γ 0 represents the coefficient of static friction and µ is the scaling index. Through analytical and numerical results, we construct a diffusion phase diagram that encompasses different regimes upon variations in parameters γ 0 and µ : normal diffusion; superdiffusion; and hyperdiffusion. These transitions occur because the induced weaker friction enhances the diffusion. With a decrease in the scaling index, we find that the γ 0 -dependent exponent of diffusion converges towards the experimental findings for ultracold 87 Rb atoms because the strong effective friction arises. The discrepancies between the fractional Lévy kinetics and the experimental findings may be potentially reconciled. We believe that these findings are helpful for analyzing experimental observations of cold atoms diffusing in optical lattices.
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