Implication of Bone Mineral Density and Body Composition Parameters for Length of Hospital Stay in Patients with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Multisystem information, including musculoskeletal information, can be captured from chest CT scans of patients with COVID-19 without further examination. AIMS: This study aims to assess the relationship between chest CT-extracted baseline bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition parameters and the length of hospital stay in these patients. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed in a cohort of 88 patients with COVID-19. Correlation analysis and a generalized linear model (GLM) were used to assess the associations between the length of hospital stay and covariates, including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), BMD and body composition variables. RESULTS: The mean length of hospital stay was 27.4±8.7 days. The length of hospital stay was significantly positively associated with age (r=0.202, p=0.046) and the paraspinal muscle fat ratio (r=0.246, p=0.021). The GLM involving age, sex, BMD, paraspinal muscle fat ratio, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) area, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) area, and liver fat fraction (LFF) showed that the length of hospital stay was positively correlated with VAT area (ß coefficients, 95% CI: 9.304, 1.141-17.478, p=0.025). CONCLUSION: The musculoskeletal features extracted from chest CT correlated with the prognosis of COVID-19 patients. Factors including old age, a higher paraspinal muscle fat ratio and a larger VAT area in patients with COVID-19 were associated with longer hospital stays.

High-Sensitivity Visible-Near Infrared Organic Photodetectors Based on Non-Fullerene Acceptors.

Highly sensitive solution-processed organic photodetectors (OPDs) with a broadband response ranging from visible to near infrared (NIR) and excellent overall device performance are demonstrated. The OPDs were fabricated from a blend consisting of a wide-band gap polymer donor and a newly developed fused octacylic small-molecule electron acceptor with an acceptor-donor-acceptor structure, which shows relatively high and balanced hole/electron mobility and allows for a thicker photo-active layer (∼300 nm). In conjunction with the use of an optimized inverted device structure, the dark current density of the OPDs was suppressed to an ultralow level of (8.3 ± 5.5) × 10-10A cm-2 at a bias of -1 V and the capability to direct weak light intensity is down to 0.24 pW cm-2; both are among the lowest reported values for OPDs. Owing to the low shot noise enabled by the inverted structure and the low thermal noise due to the high shunt resistance of the device, the obtained OPDs show a spectrally flat photoresponse in the range of 350-950 nm (UV-vis-NIR) and a maximal specific detectivity (D*) of (2.1 ± 0.1) × 1013 Jones at 800-900 nm, which are among the best results of NIR OPDs reported to date and represents a highly sensitive photodetector for weak optical signal detection. Besides, the OPDs show a wide bandwidth of 30 kHz, a fast temporal response time around 12 us ∼14 us, and a large linear dynamic range of 106 dB.

Myeloid differentiation factor 88 promotes cisplatin chemoresistance in ovarian cancer.

To investigate regulatory effects and associated mechanisms of myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) on cisplatin chemoresistance in human ovarian cancer (OC) cells. The expression of MyD88 in SKOV3/DDP cells was restrained by short interfering RNA (siRNA) of MyD88. Cell viability and proliferation in the presence or absence of cisplatin were detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The expression of p-Akt protein, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), and multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1) was detected by Western blot analysis. After Protein Kinase B (PKB/Akt) signal pathway was inhibited by the p-Akt inhibitor (LY294002) and the expression of MRP1 was restrained by siRNA of MRP1, CCK-8 was used to examine the cell proliferation after treatment with cisplatin. After the expression of MyD88 in SKOV3/DDP cells was restrained, the cell proliferation was inhibited, the cisplatin resistance decreased and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) reduced to 38 % of the control group (P < 0.01). The increased expression of p-Akt, XIAP, and MRP1 in SKOV3/DDP cells after cisplatin treatment was also repressed by the downregulation of MyD88. Furthermore, the inhibition of PKB/Akt signal pathway or expression of MRP1 both could decrease the cisplatin resistance of SKOV3/DDP cells and the IC50 decreased to 75 and 53 % of the control group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), respectively. MyD88 promoted cisplatin chemoresistance in human OC cells through activating PKB/Akt signal pathway, and enhancing the expression of XIAP and MRP1. MyD88 might be a new target of the novel pharmacological treatments for cisplatin-resistant OC.

Distribution of perfluorinated compounds in surface water from Hanjiang River in Wuhan, China.

This study provided the first spatial distribution of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in Hanjiang River in Wuhan, China (HR). Surface water samples, collected from 23 sites in HR were analyzed for eight PFCs. The total concentrations of PFCs ranged from 8.90 to 568 ng L(-1), while perfluoropentanoic acid (PFOA,

[Spatial distribution of perfluorooctanoic acids and perfluorinate sulphonates in surface water of East Lake].

Concentrations and spatial distribution of PFOS and PFOA in surface water from East Lake in Wuhan, Hubei, China were studied. The total concentration of PFCs ranged from 31.1 to 237 ng x L(-1), and the mean value was 115 ng x L(-1), revealing lake-wide contamination in East Lake. PFOS and PFOA were detected in all samples with maximum values of 132 ng x L(-1) and 158 ng x L(-1), respectively, whereas the mean values of PFOS and PFOA were 60.4 and 55.0 ng x L(-1), respectively. The highest concentrations of PFOS and PFOA were found in the eastern area of lake, followed by the southern area of lake, and the western and northern areas of East Lake were the least contaminated regions. The specific distribution and composition profile of PFOS and PFOA, and the lack of significant correlation between PFOS and PFOA, suggested that there were various sources of PFCs. The PFOS concentrations at 30 sample sites (63%) were greater than 43 ng x L(-1), which was used to estimate an avian wildlife value for PFOS. The PFOA concentrations at 20 sample sites (42%) were greater than 40 ng x L(-1), which was a health-based guidance level recommended by the State of New Jersey for PFOA.

Effects of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride on uptake of pyrene by fish gills.

Laboratory experiments were carried out to study the effects of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) on the uptake of pyrene by fish gills. The uptake (including adsorption) of pyrene by gills of the color carp (C. carpio var. color) exposed to 20-100 microg/L pyrene in the presence or absence of 0.2-1.0 mg/L CTAC were determined. The sorption of pyrene by mucus was preliminary studied using a four-step sequential extraction procedure. Fish gills were extracted with H2O, 0.01 M CaCl2, CH3OH and a mixture of 1:1 n-C6H14/CH2Cl2 in sequence. Results showed that pyrene mostly accumulated in mucus and on the surface of gills tissue; the cationic surfactant CTAC significantly enhanced these accumulation or adsorption on the fish gills (not in gills). CTAC could affect the bioavailability ofpyrene in aquatic systems.

Effects of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate on uptake of pyrene by fish gills.

Laboratory experiments were carried out to study the effects of anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) on the uptake of pyrene by fish gills. The uptake (including adsorption) of pyrene by gills of the color carp (C. carpio var. color) exposed to 20-100 microg/L pyrene in the presence or absence of 0.2-6.0 mg/L SDBS were determined. The sorption of pyrene by mucus was preliminary studied using a four-step sequential extraction procedure. Fish gills were extracted with H(2)O, 0.01 M CaCl(2), CH(3)OH and a mixture of 1:1 n-C(6)H(14)/CH(2)Cl(2) in sequence. Results showed that SDBS significantly affected these accumulation or adsorption on the fish gills (not in gills). SDBS could affect the bioavailability of pyrene in aquatic systems.

Synchronous-scan fluorescence as a selective detection method for sodium dodecylbenzene-sulfonate and pyrene in environmental samples.

Synchronous-scan fluorescence spectra of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid sodium salt (SDBS) and pyrene in aqueous solution were studied. The concentration ranges of SDBS and pyrene in aqueous solutions were 0.01-10.00 and 0.001-0.050 mg L(-1), respectively. The optimized wavelength differences (Deltalambda) of 46-55 and 38 nm were maintained between excitation and emission wavelengths for SDBS and pyrene, respectively, and they were found to be suitable for effective determination of SDBS and pyrene without mutual interferences; the peaks were observed at lambda(ex) 229-232 nm (SDBS) and lambda(ex) 335 nm (pyrene). Linear relationships between synchronous-scan fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) intensity and concentration of SDBS or pyrene in aqueous solution (Milli-Q water, river water, and mucus of fish gills) were established. It was demonstrated that SFS method was effective for simultaneous analyses of SDBS and pyrene in mixed solution.