The rapid outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a matter of international concern as the disease is spreading fast 1, 2. Considering that the contagious disease has led to an ...enormous impact globally, there is an urgent need to identify the risk populations with poor prognosis. Ageing is associated with certain changes in pulmonary physiology, pathology and function, during the period of lung infection. Therefore, age-related differences in responsiveness and tolerance become obvious and lead to worse clinical outcomes in elderly individuals 3. Previous studies have mentioned that older COVID-19 patients are at an increased risk of death 4–7. However, the age-related clinical characteristics, disease courses and outcomes other than death in COVID-19 patients remain unclear.
Age significantly determined the clinical features and prognosis of COVID-19. The prognosis was worse in patients older than 60 years, calling for clinicians to pay more attention to patients of this age.
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A patient's infectivity is determined by the presence of the virus in different body fluids, secretions, and excreta. The persistence and clearance of viral RNA from different specimens of patients ...with 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remain unclear. This study analyzed the clearance time and factors influencing 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) RNA in different samples from patients with COVID-19, providing further evidence to improve the management of patients during convalescence.
The clinical data and laboratory test results of convalescent patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to from January 20, 2020 to February 10, 2020 were collected retrospectively. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results for patients' oropharyngeal swab, stool, urine, and serum samples were collected and analyzed. Convalescent patients refer to recovered non-febrile patients without respiratory symptoms who had two successive (minimum 24 h sampling interval) negative RT-PCR results for viral RNA from oropharyngeal swabs. The effects of cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4)+ T lymphocytes, inflammatory indicators, and glucocorticoid treatment on viral nucleic acid clearance were analyzed.
In the 292 confirmed cases, 66 patients recovered after treatment and were included in our study. In total, 28 (42.4%) women and 38 men (57.6%) with a median age of 44.0 (34.0-62.0) years were analyzed. After in-hospital treatment, patients' inflammatory indicators decreased with improved clinical condition. The median time from the onset of symptoms to first negative RT-PCR results for oropharyngeal swabs in convalescent patients was 9.5 (6.0-11.0) days. By February 10, 2020, 11 convalescent patients (16.7%) still tested positive for viral RNA from stool specimens and the other 55 patients' stool specimens were negative for 2019-nCoV following a median duration of 11.0 (9.0-16.0) days after symptom onset. Among these 55 patients, 43 had a longer duration until stool specimens were negative for viral RNA than for throat swabs, with a median delay of 2.0 (1.0-4.0) days. Results for only four (6.9%) urine samples were positive for viral nucleic acid out of 58 cases; viral RNA was still present in three patients' urine specimens after throat swabs were negative. Using a multiple linear regression model (F = 2.669, P = 0.044, and adjusted R = 0.122), the analysis showed that the CD4+ T lymphocyte count may help predict the duration of viral RNA detection in patients' stools (t = -2.699, P = 0.010). The duration of viral RNA detection from oropharyngeal swabs and fecal samples in the glucocorticoid treatment group was longer than that in the non-glucocorticoid treatment group (15 days vs. 8.0 days, respectively; t = 2.550, P = 0.013) and the duration of viral RNA detection in fecal samples in the glucocorticoid treatment group was longer than that in the non-glucocorticoid treatment group (20 days vs. 11 days, respectively; t = 4.631, P < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in inflammatory indicators between patients with positive fecal viral RNA test results and those with negative results (P > 0.05).
In brief, as the clearance of viral RNA in patients' stools was delayed compared to that in oropharyngeal swabs, it is important to identify viral RNA in feces during convalescence. Because of the delayed clearance of viral RNA in the glucocorticoid treatment group, glucocorticoids are not recommended in the treatment of COVID-19, especially for mild disease. The duration of RNA detection may relate to host cell immunity.
The removal of C2H2 and C2H6 from C2H4 streams is of great significance for feedstock purification to produce polyethylene and other commodity chemicals but the simultaneous adsorption of C2H6 and ...C2H2 over C2H4 from a ternary mixture has never been realized. Herein, a robust metal–organic framework, TJT‐100, was designed and synthesized, which demonstrates remarkably selective adsorption of C2H2 and C2H6 over C2H4. Breakthrough experiments show that TJT‐100 can be used as an adsorbent for high‐performance purification of C2H4 from a ternary mixture of C2H2/C2H4/C2H6 (0.5:99:0.5) to afford a C2H4 purity greater than 99.997 %, beyond that required for ethylene polymerization. Computational studies reveal that the uncoordinated carboxylate oxygen atoms and coordinated water molecules pointing towards the pore can trap C2H2 and C2H6 through the formation of multiple C−H⋅⋅⋅O electrostatic interactions, while the corresponding C2H4–framework interaction is unfavorable.
A robust porous metal–organic framework was synthesized and utilized for the highly selective separation of C2H4 from a ternary mixture of C2 hydrocarbons. After a single operation, the C2H4 purity of the outlet was greater than 99.997 %.
Highly stable porous polymer networks (PPNs) are synthesized through Yamamoto homocoupling reaction between tetrahedral monomers. Among those polymers, PPN‐4 shows exceptionally high Langmuir surface ...area of 10063 m2 g−1 (SABET: 6461 m2 g−1). It also exhibits ultra‐high hydrogen (158 mg g−1), methane (389 mg g−1), and carbon dioxide (2121 mg g−1) storage capacities. These properties make it a perfect adsorbent for clean energy applications.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The present study aimed to investigate the gut microbiota and blood trimethylamine-N-oxide ...concentration (TMAO) in Chinese CKD patients and explore the underlying explanations through the animal experiment. The median plasma TMAO level was 30.33 μmol/L in the CKD patients, which was significantly higher than the 2.08 μmol/L concentration measured in the healthy controls. Next-generation sequence revealed obvious dysbiosis of the gut microbiome in CKD patients, with reduced bacterial diversity and biased community constitutions. CKD patients had higher percentages of opportunistic pathogens from gamma-Proteobacteria and reduced percentages of beneficial microbes, such as Roseburia, Coprococcus, and Ruminococcaceae. The PICRUSt analysis demonstrated that eight genes involved in choline, betaine, L-carnitine and trimethylamine (TMA) metabolism were changed in the CKD patients. Moreover, we transferred faecal samples from CKD patients and healthy controls into antibiotic-treated C57BL/6 mice and found that the mice that received gut microbes from the CKD patients had significantly higher plasma TMAO levels and different composition of gut microbiota than did the comparative mouse group. Our present study demonstrated that CKD patients had increased plasma TMAO levels due to contributions from both impaired renal functions and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota.
Gas guzzler: The introduction of polyamines in porous polymer networks results in significant enhancement of CO2‐uptake capacities at low pressures. The best substituted network was found to exhibit ...high adsorption enthalpies for CO2 and the largest selectivity (see graph) of any porous material reported to date. It also had outstanding physicochemical stability and could be regenerated under mild conditions.
Human infection with the novel avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) virus has aroused global concern. In this report, the clinical characteristics of 111 laboratory-confirmed cases in China are presented.
...On March 30, 2013, three patients with fatal cases of rapid, progressive pneumonia were confirmed to be infected with a novel avian-origin influenza A (H7N9) virus that had not been detected in humans and animals previously.
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The new human H7N9 viruses are the product of reassortment of viruses that are of avian origin.
Global attention was soon focused on the situation because of the increasing number of new cases and the high rate of death associated with these infections.
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As of May 9, the World Health Organization (WHO) had reported 131 laboratory-confirmed cases, including 32 deaths.
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However, data on . . .
Flexible metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly desirable in host–guest chemistry owing to their almost unlimited structural/functional diversities and stimuli‐responsive pore architectures. ...Herein, we designed a flexible Zr‐MOF system, namely PCN‐700 series, for the realization of switchable catalysis in cycloaddition reactions of CO2 with epoxides. Their breathing behaviors were studied by successive single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analyses. The breathing amplitudes of the PCN‐700 series were modulated through pre‐functionalization of organic linkers and post‐synthetic linker installation. Experiments and molecular simulations confirm that the catalytic activities of the PCN‐700 series can be switched on and off upon reversible structural transformation, which is reminiscent of sophisticated biological systems such as allosteric enzymes.
An open and shut case: The inherent cavities and dynamic behavior of flexible MOFs, bear a close resemblance to regulatory enzymes. Switchable activation and deactivation of their catalytic properties occurs on pore opening and closing by solvation/solvent removal.
This paper investigates the existence of environmental Kuznets curve in Croatia for the period of 1992Q1-2011Q1. To fulfil to goals of the paper, Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and VECM method ...has been applied. Results show the existence of inverted U-shape relation between CO2 emissions and economic growth in long run that is the validity of EKC. Granger causality based on VECM approach shows bi-directional causality between CO2 emissions and economic growth in short run and uni-directional causality from economic growth to CO2 emissions in long run. DOLS and FMOLS results confirm the robustness of long run results. Variance decomposition and Impulse response also show similar results. Beauty of the paper is the consistency of results from different techniques.
•Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was testing using ARDL approach for Croatia.•Results confirm the validity of EKC for Croatia in long run.•There was bi-directional causality between CO2 emissions and income in short run.•There was uni-directional causality from income to CO2 emissions in long run.
The need for alternative fuels is greater now than ever before. With considerable sources available and low pollution factor, methane is a natural choice as petroleum replacement in cars and other ...mobile applications. However, efficient storage methods are still lacking to implement the application of methane in the automotive industry. Advanced porous materials, metal-organic frameworks and porous organic polymers, have received considerable attention in sorptive storage applications owing to their exceptionally high surface areas and chemically-tunable structures. In this
critical review
we provide an overview of the current status of the application of these two types of advanced porous materials in the storage of methane. Examples of materials exhibiting high methane storage capacities are analyzed and methods for increasing the applicability of these advanced porous materials in methane storage technologies described.
This review describes advances in the adsorptive storage of methane in advanced porous materials, metal-organic frameworks and porous organic polymers.
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