Background
The clinical presentation of SARS‐CoV‐2‐infected pneumonia (COVID‐19) resembles that of other etiologies of community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP). We aimed to identify clinical laboratory ...features to distinguish COVID‐19 from CAP.
Methods
We compared the hematological and biochemical features of 84 patients with COVID‐19 at hospital admission and 221 patients with CAP. Parameters independently predictive of COVID‐19 were calculated by multivariate logistic regression. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was measured to evaluate the discriminative ability.
Results
Most hematological and biochemical indexes of patients with COVID‐19 were significantly different from patients with CAP. Nine laboratory parameters were identified to be predictive of a diagnosis of COVID‐19. The AUCs demonstrated good discriminatory ability for red cell distribution width (RDW) with an AUC of 0.87 and hemoglobin with an AUC of 0.81. Red blood cell, albumin, eosinophil, hematocrit, alkaline phosphatase, and mean platelet volume had fair discriminatory ability. Combinations of any two parameters performed better than did the RDW alone.
Conclusions
Routine laboratory examinations may be helpful for the diagnosis of COVID‐19. Application of laboratory tests may help to optimize the use of isolation rooms for patients when they present with unexplained febrile respiratory illnesses.
There is increased appreciation for the diverse roles of the microbiome-gut-brain axis on mammalian growth and health throughout the lifespan. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the gut ...microbiome and their metabolites are extensively involved in the communication between brain and gut. Association study of brain metabolome and gut microbiome is an active field offering large amounts of information on the interaction of microbiome, brain and gut but data size and complicated hierarchical relationships were found to be major obstacles to the formation of significant, reproducible conclusions. This study addressed a two-level strategy of brain metabolome and gut microbiome association analysis of male Wistar rats in the process of growth, employing several analytical platforms and various bioinformatics methods. Trajectory analysis showed that the age-related brain metabolome and gut microbiome had similarity in overall alteration patterns. Four high taxonomical level correlated pairs of “metabolite type-bacterial phylum”, including “lipids-Spirochaetes”, “free fatty acids (FFAs)-Firmicutes”, “bile acids (BAs)-Firmicutes”, and “Neurotransmitters-Bacteroidetes”, were screened out based on unit- and multivariant correlation analysis and function analysis. Four groups of specific “metabolite-bacterium” association pairs from within the above high level key pairs were further identified. The key correlation pairs were validated by an independent animal study. This two-level strategy is effective in identifying principal correlations in big data sets obtained from the systematic multiomics study, furthering our understanding on the lifelong connection between brain and gut.
In this paper, a new smoothing Newton method is proposed for solving constrained nonlinear equations. We first transform the constrained nonlinear equations to a system of semismooth equations by ...using the so-called absolute value function of the slack variables, and then present a new smoothing Newton method for solving the semismooth equations by constructing a new smoothing approximation function. This new method is globally and quadratically convergent. It needs to solve only one system of unconstrained equations and to perform one line search at each iteration. Numerical results show that the new algorithm works quite well.
Background/Aims: This study aimed to examine antioxidants in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and determine whether serum protein thiol levels are associated with all-cause 90-day mortality in ...patients with hospital-acquired AKI. Methods: According to the RIFLE criteria, 160 patients with hospital-acquired AKI were enrolled in our prospective cohort study. As controls, 72 critically ill patients without AKI and 72 age and sex-matched healthy subjects were also recruited. Serum protein thiol levels were analyzed in relation to all-cause mortality of patients with AKI. Results: Serum protein thiol levels in AKI patients were lower than those in healthy people (p=0.010). Protein thiol levels showed a weak but significant positive correlation with serum albumin levels. The 90-day overall mortality rate was higher in AKI patients with high serum protein thiol levels than in those with low levels (p=0.032 by log rank test). In multivariate analysis (Cox regression), serum protein thiol levels (p=0.031) were independently associated with 90-day overall mortality after adjustment for age, sex, sepsis, and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score. Conclusions: Patients with hospital-acquired AKI have remarkably low serum protein thiol levels. Elevated protein thiol levels are associated with 90-day overall mortality in hospital-acquired AKI.
To compare the functional changes in parotid gland after surgical excision of pleomorphic adenoma by partial superficial parotidectomy (PSP), or conventional superficial parotidectomy (CSP).
A ...prospective study including 117 patients undergoing CSP or PSP was performed. The uptake rate (UR) and excretion fraction (EF) of the parotid gland were measured by salivary gland scintigraphy before the surgery, as well as at months 3, 6, and 12 after the surgery; ΔUR and ΔEF, defined as the UR and EF differences between the contralateral side and the operated side, were also calculated.
Either UR or EF of the operated side was lower than that in the contralateral side after surgery (P < .05). ΔEF and ΔUR values at months 6 and 12 were significantly smaller in the PSP group than those in the CSP group.
PSP is preferable for preservation of the functions of the parotid gland.
According to the record of Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine, " H. annuus seeds can penetrate thick Mood and cure Mood dysentery and chronic osteomyelitis; H. annuus shells can cure ...tinnitus; H. annuus leaves contain an antimalarial drug similar to quinine, which can lower bkod pressure and detoxify; H. annuus petals can dispel wind, improve eyesight, and cure dėžines and toothache; H. annuus root system has the effects of cleaėng heat and dampness , promoting qi and relieving pain; H. annuus disks can clear dampness and heat, promote urination, reduce inflammation, and lower blood pressure; H . annuus pith has a good effect on the treatment of urethral stones; and the juice in H . annuus stalks can heal wounds" 1. ...the disks, seeds, leaves, petals and stallvs of H. annuus all have unique pharmacological effects, and they have a positive effect on the prevention and treatment of human diseases and high medicinal value. According to existing literature, H. annuus dişli contains diterpenoids2~3 , flavonoids4~6 , polysacclıaУdes7~8 , chromenes9 and other chemical components. To this end, the anti-tumor and antibacterial activity of the above-mentioned chromenes in vitro, as well as their inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase and a-glucosidase was investigated, in order to provide scientific data for elucidating the pharmacological activity of these ohromene compounds and reference for the development and utilization of H. annuus disk resources. 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Instruments and equipment SECURA125-1CN precision balance ( Sartorius, Germany) ; TS100-F inverted microscope ( Nikon, Japan) ; Multiskan FC microplate reader (Thermo Fisher Scientific! USA) ; 3111 carbon dioxideincubator ( ThermoFisher Scientific, USA ) ; constant temperature incubator ( Shaoguan Taihong Medical Equipment Co. , Ltd. , PRC) ; HH-1 water batlı ( Guohua Electric Co. , Ltd. , PRC) ; TDZ4A-WS low-speed desktop centrifuge ( Hunan Xiangyi Centrifuge Instrument Co. , Ltd. , PRC) ; SW-CJ-2F clean bench (Suzhou Antai Air Tech Co. , Ltd. , PRC). 0% ) , amphotericin B (batch No. 1026B028, purity'98.0% ) , 5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) ( DTNB, batch No. 756E016) , and p-nitrophenyl-a-glucopyranoside ( PNPG, lot No. 1205E022) were purchased from Beijing Solarbio Technology Co. , Ltd. Tacrine (lot No. 073L5023D), acetylcholinesterase (lot No. 085M2076B), and a-glucosidase ( batch No. 089M4087V) were purchased from Sigma Corporation. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -5(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl ) -2-( 4-sulfopheny ) -2H-tetrazolium ( MTS ) reagent was purchased from Abeam Pharmatech Inc. Dimethyl sulfoxide ( DMSO) and sodium dodecyl sulfate ( SDS) were both analytically pure, and purchased from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co. , Ltd. The water used was pure water. 2.3 Cell lines The primary cells of leukemia cell line HL-60, human breast cancer cell line MCF-7, human liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721, human lung cancer cell line A549 and colon cancer cell line SW480 were purchased Rom the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 2.4 Bacteria and fungi Escherichia coli ATCC25922, Stappylococccs aureus subsp. aureus ATCC29213, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica ATCC14028 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853 were all purchased from China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center; and Candida albicans ATCC 10231 was purchased from Microbiologies, USA. 2.5 In vitro anti-tumor activity of H. annuus chromenes After thawing and pasage for two generations, each cell line was prepared into suspension with a culture medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum and inoculated into 96-well plate with 3 000 - 15 000 cells per well, with a volume of 100 pL per well.
Van der Waals heterostructures composed of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials and three-dimensional (3D) materials provide a multidimensional material integration strategy, which combines ...materials with different characteristics leading to a wider degree of freedom than a single component, and offer a way for developing electronic and optoelectronic devices with multifunctionalities, such as high-frequency electronic devices, photodetectors, valley-spin electronic devices, and so on. This report demonstrates the direct growth of large-area monolayer MoS2 single-crystal nanosheets with a side length of more than 100 μm on 3D GaN substrates by the perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic acid tetrapotassium salt (PTAS) seed-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The seeding promoters changed the growth kinetics of MoS2 on the GaN substrate, which is different from the previously reported epitaxial growth behavior. The size of our synthesized single-crystal MoS2 nanosheets is 2 orders of magnitude larger than the reported epitaxially grown MoS2 on the GaN substrate. Meanwhile, the as-synthesized MoS2 by the seed-assisted CVD method has comparable crystal quality as that of the reported epitaxially grown MoS2 on the GaN substrate. Moreover, detailed characterizations indicate that noticeable charge transfer occurs between MoS2 and the GaN substrate, which suggests that the MoS2/GaN heterostructure has great potential applications in the field of light-emitting diodes (LED) and valley-spin electronic devices.
Abstract
Two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic materials have been discovered with tunable magnetism and orbital-driven nodal-line features. Controlling the 2D magnetism in exfoliated nanoflakes via ...electric/magnetic fields enables a boosted Curie temperature (TC) or phase transitions. One of the challenges, however, is the realization of high TC 2D magnets that are tunable, robust and suitable for large scale fabrication. Here, we report molecular-beam epitaxy growth of wafer-scale Fe3+XGeTe2 films with TC above room temperature. By controlling the Fe composition in Fe3+XGeTe2, a continuously modulated TC in a broad range of 185–320 K has been achieved. This widely tunable TC is attributed to the doped interlayer Fe that provides a 40% enhancement around the optimal composition X = 2. We further fabricated magnetic tunneling junction device arrays that exhibit clear tunneling signals. Our results show an effective and reliable approach, i.e. element doping, to producing robust and tunable ferromagnetism beyond room temperature in a large-scale 2D Fe3+XGeTe2 fashion.
We report the tunable 2D ferromagnetism above-room-temperature in wafer-scale Fe3+XGeTe2 films and demonstrate magnetic tunneling junction arrays using Fe3+XGeTe2 films.
This study investigated the value of gastric tube during surgery for advanced hypopharyngeal and cervical esophageal cancer.
From November 2007 to December 2012, 42 patients underwent total ...pharyngo-laryngo-esophagectomy because of advanced hypopharyngeal or cervical esophageal cancer and were reconstructed with a gastric tube. Clinical swallowing function, morbidity, overall survival, and progression-free survival were evaluated postoperatively.
There were no severe complications, including no gastric necrosis, surgery-related postoperative morbidity, hemothorax, thoracostomach, or severe reflux esophagitis. Anastomotic leakage occurred in 2 cases, and these patients healed spontaneously with conservative management. Pulmonary infection developed in 5 patients. Anastomotic stenosis occurred in 2 cases and was managed with endoscopic dilatation. Regurgitation during the night was observed in 5 cases and was controlled by medication. All the patients regained their swallowing ability and thereby increased their quality of life. All patients were followed for 30-60 months; 2 of them were lost 6 months after surgery. The 3-year overall and progression-free survival rates were 58.1 and 56.2% respectively, and the 5-year overall and progression-free survival rates were 27.6 and 21.8%, respectively.
Reconstruction by gastric tube is a dependable one-stage procedure that restores gastrointestinal continuity after total pharyngo-laryngo-esophagectomy.
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