During the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), consistent and considerable differences in disease severity and mortality rate of patients treated in Hubei province compared to those in ...other parts of China have been observed. We sought to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients being treated inside and outside Hubei province, and explore the factors underlying these differences.
Collaborating with the National Health Commission, we established a retrospective cohort to study hospitalised COVID-19 cases in China. Clinical characteristics, the rate of severe events and deaths, and the time to critical illness (invasive ventilation or intensive care unit admission or death) were compared between patients within and outside Hubei. The impact of Wuhan-related exposure (a presumed key factor that drove the severe situation in Hubei, as Wuhan is the epicentre as well the administrative centre of Hubei province) and the duration between symptom onset and admission on prognosis were also determined.
At the data cut-off (31 January 2020), 1590 cases from 575 hospitals in 31 provincial administrative regions were collected (core cohort). The overall rate of severe cases and mortality was 16.0% and 3.2%, respectively. Patients in Hubei (predominantly with Wuhan-related exposure, 597 (92.3%) out of 647) were older (mean age 49.7
44.9 years), had more cases with comorbidity (32.9%
19.7%), higher symptomatic burden, abnormal radiologic manifestations and, especially, a longer waiting time between symptom onset and admission (5.7
4.5 days) compared with patients outside Hubei. Patients in Hubei (severe event rate 23.0%
11.1%, death rate 7.3%
0.3%, HR (95% CI) for critical illness 1.59 (1.05-2.41)) have a poorer prognosis compared with patients outside Hubei after adjusting for age and comorbidity. However, among patients outside Hubei, the duration from symptom onset to hospitalisation (mean 4.4
4.7 days) and prognosis (HR (95%) 0.84 (0.40-1.80)) were similar between patients with or without Wuhan-related exposure. In the overall population, the waiting time, but neither treated in Hubei nor Wuhan-related exposure, remained an independent prognostic factor (HR (95%) 1.05 (1.01-1.08)).
There were more severe cases and poorer outcomes for COVID-19 patients treated in Hubei, which might be attributed to the prolonged duration of symptom onset to hospitalisation in the epicentre. Future studies to determine the reason for delaying hospitalisation are warranted.
In comparison to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), SARS-CoV-2 appears to be more contagious 1, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients demonstrate varied clinical ...manifestations distinct from those seen in patients with SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections 2. Collective results from the clinical and epidemiological observations suggest a distinct viral–host interaction in COVID-19 patients. Profiling of the antibody response during SARS-CoV-2 infection may help improve our understanding of the viral–host interaction and the immunopathological mechanisms of the disease.
Humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 showed an early response of IgA, instead of IgM, in COVID-19 patients. As highlighted by this study, enhanced IgA responses observed in severe COVID-19 might confer damaging effects in severe COVID-19.
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Single atom catalysts exhibit particularly high catalytic activities in contrast to regular nanomaterial-based catalysts. Until recently, research has been mostly focused on single atom catalysts, ...and it remains a great challenge to synthesize bimetallic dimer structures. Herein, we successfully prepare high-quality one-to-one A-B bimetallic dimer structures (Pt-Ru dimers) through an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. The Pt-Ru dimers show much higher hydrogen evolution activity (more than 50 times) and excellent stability compared to commercial Pt/C catalysts. X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicates that the Pt-Ru dimers structure model contains one Pt-Ru bonding configuration. First principle calculations reveal that the Pt-Ru dimer generates a synergy effect by modulating the electronic structure, which results in the enhanced hydrogen evolution activity. This work paves the way for the rational design of bimetallic dimers with good activity and stability, which have a great potential to be applied in various catalytic reactions.
A major efficiency limit for solution-processed perovskite optoelectronic devices, for example light-emitting diodes, is trap-mediated non-radiative losses. Defect passivation using organic molecules ...has been identified as an attractive approach to tackle this issue. However, implementation of this approach has been hindered by a lack of deep understanding of how the molecular structures influence the effectiveness of passivation. We show that the so far largely ignored hydrogen bonds play a critical role in affecting the passivation. By weakening the hydrogen bonding between the passivating functional moieties and the organic cation featuring in the perovskite, we significantly enhance the interaction with defect sites and minimize non-radiative recombination losses. Consequently, we achieve exceptionally high-performance near-infrared perovskite light-emitting diodes with a record external quantum efficiency of 21.6%. In addition, our passivated perovskite light-emitting diodes maintain a high external quantum efficiency of 20.1% and a wall-plug efficiency of 11.0% at a high current density of 200 mA cm−2, making them more attractive than the most efficient organic and quantum-dot light-emitting diodes at high excitations.Improved understanding of passivation leads to near-infrared perovskite light-emitting diodes with 21.6% external quantum efficiency.
Defects can greatly influence the properties of oxide materials; however, facile defect engineering of oxides at room temperature remains challenging. The generation of defects in oxides is difficult ...to control by conventional chemical reduction methods that usually require high temperatures and are time consuming. Here, we develop a facile room-temperature lithium reduction strategy to implant defects into a series of oxide nanoparticles including titanium dioxide (TiO
), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin dioxide (SnO
), and cerium dioxide (CeO
). Our lithium reduction strategy shows advantages including all-room-temperature processing, controllability, time efficiency, versatility and scalability. As a potential application, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of defective TiO
is examined. The hydrogen evolution rate increases up to 41.8 mmol g
h
under one solar light irradiation, which is ~3 times higher than that of the pristine nanoparticles. The strategy of tuning defect oxides used in this work may be beneficial for many other related applications.
Esophageal cancer (EC) is a type of aggressive cancer without clinically relevant molecular subtypes, hindering the development of effective strategies for treatment. To define molecular subtypes of ...EC, we perform mass spectrometry-based proteomic and phosphoproteomics profiling of EC tumors and adjacent non-tumor tissues, revealing a catalog of proteins and phosphosites that are dysregulated in ECs. The EC cohort is stratified into two molecular subtypes-S1 and S2-based on proteomic analysis, with the S2 subtype characterized by the upregulation of spliceosomal and ribosomal proteins, and being more aggressive. Moreover, we identify a subtype signature composed of ELOA and SCAF4, and construct a subtype diagnostic and prognostic model. Potential drugs are predicted for treating patients of S2 subtype, and three candidate drugs are validated to inhibit EC. Taken together, our proteomic analysis define molecular subtypes of EC, thus providing a potential therapeutic outlook for improving disease outcomes in patients with EC.
Photochemical solution-phase reactions have been widely applied for the syntheses of nanocrystals. In particular, tuning of the nucleation and growth of solids has been a major area of focus. Here we ...demonstrate a facile approach to generate atomically dispersed platinum via photochemical reduction of frozen chloroplatinic acid solution using ultraviolet light. Using this iced-photochemical reduction, the aggregation of atoms is prevented, and single atoms are successfully stabilized. The platinum atoms are deposited on various substrates, including mesoporous carbon, graphene, carbon nanotubes, titanium dioxide nanoparticles, and zinc oxide nanowires. The atomically dispersed platinum on mesoporous carbon exhibits efficient catalytic activity for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction, with an overpotential of only 65 mV at a current density of 100 mA cm
and long-time durability (>10 h), superior to state-of-the-art platinum/carbon. This iced-photochemical reduction may be extended to other single atoms, for example gold and silver, as demonstrated in this study.
Surfaces, interfaces and grain boundaries are classically known to be sinks of defects generated within the bulk lattice. Here, we report an inverse case by which the defects generated at the ...particle surface are continuously pumped into the bulk lattice. We show that, during operation of a rechargeable battery, oxygen vacancies produced at the surfaces of lithium-rich layered cathode particles migrate towards the inside lattice. This process is associated with a high cutoff voltage at which an anionic redox process is activated. First-principle calculations reveal that triggering of this redox process leads to a sharp decrease of both the formation energy of oxygen vacancies and the migration barrier of oxidized oxide ions, therefore enabling the migration of oxygen vacancies into the bulk lattice of the cathode. This work unveils a coupled redox dynamic that needs to be taken into account when designing high-capacity layered cathode materials for high-voltage lithium-ion batteries.
Abstract
As one of the most important photocatalysts, TiO
2
has triggered broad interest and intensive studies for decades. Observation of the interfacial reactions between water and TiO
2
at ...microscopic scale can provide key insight into the mechanisms of photocatalytic processes. Currently, experimental methodologies for characterizing photocatalytic reactions of anatase TiO
2
are mostly confined to water vapor or single molecule chemistry. Here, we investigate the photocatalytic reaction of anatase TiO
2
nanoparticles in water using liquid environmental transmission electron microscopy. A self-hydrogenated shell is observed on the TiO
2
surface before the generation of hydrogen bubbles. First-principles calculations suggest that this shell is formed through subsurface diffusion of photo-reduced water protons generated at the aqueous TiO
2
interface, which promotes photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by reducing the activation barrier for H
2
(H–H bond) formation. Experiments confirm that the self-hydrogenated shell contains reduced titanium ions, and its thickness can increase to several nanometers with increasing UV illuminance.
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