Clinical features and treatment of COVID-19 patients in northeast Chongqing.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China (SARS-CoV-2) that began in December 2019 presents a significant and urgent threat to global health. This study was conducted to provide the international community with a deeper understanding of this new infectious disease. Epidemiological, clinical features, laboratory findings, radiological characteristics, treatment, and clinical outcomes of 135 patients in northeast Chongqing were collected and analyzed in this study. A total of 135 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were enrolled. The median age was 47 years (interquartile range, 36-55), and there was no significant gender difference (53.3% men). The majority of patients had contact with people from the Wuhan area. Forty-three (31.9%) patients had underlying disease, primarily hypertension (13 [9.6%]), diabetes (12 [8.9%]), cardiovascular disease (7 [5.2%]), and malignancy (4 [3.0%]). Common symptoms included fever (120 [88.9%]), cough (102 [76.5%]), and fatigue (44 [32.5%]). Chest computed tomography scans showed bilateral patchy shadows or ground glass opacity in the lungs of all the patients. All patients received antiviral therapy (135 [100%]) (Kaletra and interferon were both used), antibacterial therapy (59 [43.7%]), and corticosteroids (36 [26.7%]). In addition, many patients received traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) (124 [91.8%]). It is suggested that patients should receive Kaletra early and should be treated by a combination of Western and Chinese medicines. Compared to the mild cases, the severe ones had lower lymphocyte counts and higher plasma levels of Pt, APTT, d-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase, PCT, ALB, C-reactive protein, and aspartate aminotransferase. This study demonstrates the clinic features and therapies of 135 COVID-19 patients. Kaletra and TCM played an important role in the treatment of the viral pneumonia. Further studies are required to explore the role of Kaletra and TCM in the treatment of COVID-19.

Neural substrates of behavioral variability in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: based on ex-Gaussian reaction time distribution and diffusion spectrum imaging tractography.

BACKGROUND: Increased intra-individual variability (IIV) in reaction time (RT) across various tasks is one ubiquitous neuropsychological finding in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, neurobiological underpinnings of IIV in individuals with ADHD have not yet been fully delineated. The ex-Gaussian distribution has been proved to capture IIV in RT. The authors explored the three parameters [µ (mu), σ (sigma), τ (tau)] of an ex-Gaussian RT distribution derived from the Conners' continuous performance test (CCPT) and their correlations with the microstructural integrity of the frontostriatal-caudate tracts and the cingulum bundles. METHOD: We assessed 28 youths with ADHD (8-17 years; 25 males) and 28 age-, sex-, IQ- and handedness-matched typically developing (TD) youths using the CCPT, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd edition and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Microstructural integrity, indexed by generalized fractional anisotropy (GFA), was measured by diffusion spectrum imaging tractrography on a 3-T MRI system. RESULTS: Youths with ADHD had larger σ (s.d. of Gaussian distribution) and τ (mean of exponential distribution) and reduced GFA in four bilateral frontostriatal tracts. With increased inter-stimulus intervals of CCPT, the magnitude of greater τ in ADHD than TD increased. In ADHD youths, the cingulum bundles and frontostriatal integrity were associated with three ex-Gaussian parameters and with µ (mean of Gaussian distribution) and τ, respectively; while only frontostriatal GFA was associated with µ and τ in TD youths. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the crucial role of the integrity of the cingulum bundles in accounting for IIV in ADHD. Involvement of different brain systems in mediating IIV may relate to a distinctive pathophysiological processing and/or adaptive compensatory mechanism.

Waste oyster shell as a kind of active filler to treat the combined wastewater at an estuary.

Estuaries have been described as one of the most difficult environments on Earth. It is difficult to know how to treat the combined wastewater in tidal rivers at the estuary, where the situation is very different from ordinary fresh water rivers. Waste oyster shell was used as the active filler in this study in a bio-contact oxidation tank to treat the combined wastewater at the Fengtang Tidal River. With a middle-experimental scale of 360 m3/day, the average removal efficiency of COD, BOD, NH3-N, TP and TSS was 80.05%, 85.02%, 86.59%, 50.58% and 85.32%, respectively, in this bio-contact oxidation process. The living microbes in the biofilms on the waste oyster shell in this bio-contact oxidation tank, which were mainly composed of zoogloea, protozoa and micro-metazoa species, revealed that waste oyster shell as the filler was suitable material for combined wastewater degradation. This treatment method using waste oyster shell as active filler was then applied in a mangrove demonstration area for water quality improvement near the experiment area, with a treatment volume of 5 x 10(3) m3/day. Another project was also successfully applied in a constructed wetland, with a wastewater treatment volume of 1 x 10(3) m3/day. This technology is therefore feasible and can easily be applied on a larger scale.

An effective strategy for promoting charge separation by integrating heterojunctions and multiple homojunctions in TiO2 nanorods to enhance photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution.

It is important to achieve high photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxygen evolution performance in titanium oxide (TiO2) via the separation and transportation of photogenerated carriers. Herein, three-dimensional (3D) TiO2 nanorod arrays growing on flexible carbon cloth (CC) were decorated with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) to yield a 3D g-C3N4/TiO2/CC heterojunction composite (TCN). The photocurrent density of TCN is 10.6 times that of the bare TiO2 nanorod arrays, which can be attributed to the promoted separation and transportation of photogenerated carriers by the heterojunction. Then, a simple rapid cooling and heating (RCH) treatment was creatively introduced to form a gradient Ti3+ self-doping TiO2 multiple homojunction (GTSD-TiO2) in the bulk during the hydrothermal growth of the TiO2 nanorod array. This can further facilitate the separation and transportation of carriers in the bulk owing to the formation of a built-in electric field. The GTSD-TiO2 was decorated with g-C3N4 to form a core-shell heterojunction composite (GTSD-TCN). Notably, the photocurrent density of the GTSD-TCN core-shell heterojunction reached 1.23 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) under air mass (AM) 1.5 G illumination without the use of hole scavengers or cocatalysts; this was twice the photocurrent density of the TCN heterojunction (0.64 mA cm-2) and is one of the best values obtained from the previously reported TiO2 and g-C3N4 heterojunction. This performance may be ascribed to the enhanced charge separation and transportation efficiency of the heterojunction after the RCH treatment; the efficiency rises from 51 % (TCN) to 71 % (GTSD-TCN). We believe that the RCH treatment is a highly promising method towards fabricating unique multiple homojunctions by gradient self-doping. This simple and novel design provides a new route for the preparation of high-performance PEC photoelectrodes.

Light-Activated Interface Charge-Alternating Interaction on an Extended Gate Photoelectrode: A New Sensing Strategy for EGFET-Based Photoelectrochemical Sensors.

Integration of extended gate field-effect transistors (EGFET) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurement to construct highly sensitive sensors is an innovative research field that was proven feasible by our previous work. However, it remains a challenge on how to adjust the interaction between the extended gate and the analyte and study its influence on EGFET-based PEC sensors. Herein, a new sensing strategy was proposed by a mutual electrostatic interaction. Three-dimensional TiO2 and g-C3N4 core-shell heterojunction on flexible carbon cloth (TCN) was designed as the extended sensing gate. Tetracycline (TC) was also used as a model analyte, and it contains electron-donating groups (-NH2 and -OH) with negative charge. The designed TCN-extended sensing gate was negatively charged in the dark by introducing carbon vacancies with oxygen doping in the g-C3N4 shell, while it was positively charged under illustration due to the aggregation of photogenerated holes on the surface. Therefore, a light-activated PEC sensing platform for the sensitive and selective determination of tetracycline (TC) was demonstrated. Such a PEC sensor exhibited wide linear ranges within 100 pM to 1 µM and 1-100 µM with a low detection limit of 0.42 pM. Furthermore, the sensing platform possessed excellent selectivity, good reproducibility, and stability. The proposed sensing strategy in this work can expand the paradigm for developing a light-regulated FET-based PEC sensor by mutual electrostatic interaction, and we believe that this work will offer a new perspective for the design of interface interaction in PEC devices.

Analysis of recurrence factors associated with conservative surgery for ovarian-type endometriosis.

Background: To investigate the factors associated with postoperative recurrence in patients with ovarian-type endometriosis (EMS) who were treated with conservative surgery and to provide ideas for preventing disease recurrence in advance of treatment. Methods: The study included data from 289 inpatients with ovarian-type EMS who underwent conservative laparoscopic surgery in the Department of Gynecology, Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, from 2018 to 2020. We collected general clinical data, postoperative recurrence, drug treatment, and follow-up information. The factors associated with recurrence were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 software. Results: A total of 289 patients were included in this study, including 49 patients with recurrence and 240 without recurrence. In the univariate analysis of recurrence, revised American Fertility Society (r-AFS) score, preoperative dysmenorrhea, EMS fertility index (EFI) score, combined myoma, and postoperative pregnancy affected postoperative recurrence of patients. The critical value of r-AFS was 70 according to the subject receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and the Youden index was 0.513. R-AFS >70 had a sensitivity of 57.1%, specificity of 94.2%, the positive predictive value of 66.7%, the negative predictive value of 91.5%, and diagnostic accuracy of 87.9% for the diagnosis of recurrent ovarian endometrioid cysts. Using multifactorial binary logistic regression, results showed that r-AFS score >70 [odd ratio (OR) =1.042; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.028-1.055; P<0.05], myoma (OR =2.995; 95% CI: 1.429-6.275; P<0.05), and preoperative dysmenorrhea (OR =1.994; 95% CI: 1.071-3.713; P<0.05) were risk factors for recurrence. EFI score (OR =0.785; 95% CI: 0.661-0.931; P<0.05), postoperative pregnancy (OR =0.349; 95% CI: 0.132-0.920; P<0.05) were protective factors for recurrence. The differences were statistically significant, and the remaining differences were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Preoperative r-AFS level, preoperative dysmenorrhea, and combined myoma are risk factors for postoperative recurrence, so patients with an r-AFS score over 70 should be more alert to possible recurrence. Moreover, EFI score and postoperative pregnancy are protective factors for postoperative recurrence. Postoperative patients should routinely take medication for prevention, and patients with the intention to become pregnant should be encouraged to conceive as soon as possible to reduce recurrence.

LncRNA MALAT1 promoted high glucose-induced pyroptosis of renal tubular epithelial cell by sponging miR-30c targeting for NLRP3.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN), characterized by the chronic loss of kidney function during diabetes, is a long-term kidney disease that affects millions of populations. However, the etiology of DN remains unclear. DN cell model was established by treating HK-2 cells with high glucose (HG) in vitro. Expression of metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript-1 (MALAT1), miR-30c, nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1, IL-1ß, and IL-18 in treated HK-2 cells were tested by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. HK-2 cell pyroptosis was assessed using flow cytometry analysis. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was examined with a LDH assay kit. Correlation among MALAT1, miR-30c, and NLRP3 was examined via dual-luciferase reporter assay. Here, we revealed that MALAT1 was upregulated, but miR-30c was downregulated in HG-treated HK-2 cells, leading to upregulation of NLRP3 expression and cell pyroptosis. Knockdown of MALAT1 or overexpression of miR-30c protected HK-2 cells from HG-induced pyroptosis. Meanwhile, we found that MALAT1 promoted NLRP3 expression by sponging miR-30c through dual-luciferase reporter assay. Moreover, the co-transfection of sh-MALAT1 and miR-30c inhibitor could reverse the protective effects of the sh-MALAT1 on the HG-induced pyroptosis. These results confirmed that MALAT1 regulated HK-2 cell pyroptosis by inhibiting miR-30c targeting for NLRP3, contributing to a better understanding of DN pathogenesis and help to find out the effective treatment for DN.

Xuebijing injection in the treatment of COVID-19: a retrospective case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Neither a vaccine nor specific therapeutic drugs against 2019 novel coronavirus have been developed. Some studies have shown that Xuebijing injection (XBJ) can exert an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and other cytokines. This study aimed to investigate the effect of XBJ on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its effects on IL-6 and tumor necrosis alpha TNF-α. METHODS: A total of 42 patients, who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and treated with XBJ combined with routine treatment at Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital between January 20, 2020, and March 11, 2020, were selected as the observation group. A control group comprising 16 patients who received routine treatment was also established, and cases were matched from the observation group on a 1:1 basis according to age, comorbidities, and mild and severe disease. The clinical symptoms, laboratory test indexes, and changes in computed tomography (CT) scans of patients in the two groups were observed at the time of admission and 7 days after treatment, and the time taken for the patients to produce a negative nucleic acid test was also recorded. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in baseline data between the two groups. After treatment, there were significant improvements in IL-6 levels and body temperature in the observation group as compared with the control group. Particularly in severe patients, the reduction in body temperature in the observation group was greater than that in the control group (P<0.05). A higher number of patients in the observation group showed improved CT imaging results compared with the control group, and the time taken to produce a negative nucleic acid test was shorter in the observation group than in the control group; however, the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Furthermore, there were no significant differences in TNF-α and IL-10 between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that routine treatment combined with XBJ can better improve the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients.

Total pollution effect of urban surface runoff.

For pollution research with regard to urban surface runoff, most sampling strategies to date have focused on differences in land usage. With single land-use sampling, total surface runoff pollution effect cannot be evaluated unless every land usage spot is monitored. Through a new sampling strategy known as mixed stormwater sampling for a street community at discharge outlet adjacent to river, this study assessed the total urban surface runoff pollution effect caused by a variety of land uses and the pollutants washed off from the rain pipe system in the Futian River watershed in Shenzhen City of China. The water quality monitoring indices were COD (chemical oxygen demand), TSS (total suspend solid), TP (total phosphorus), TN (total nitrogen) and BOD (biochemical oxygen demand). The sums of total pollution loads discharged into the river for the four indices of COD, TSS, TN, and TP over all seven rainfall events were very different. The mathematical model for simulating total pollution loads was established from discharge outlet mixed stormwater sampling of total pollution loads on the basis of four parameters: rainfall intensity, total land area, impervious land area, and pervious land area. In order to treat surface runoff pollution, the values of MFF30 (mass first flush ratio) and FF30 (first 30% of runoff volume) can be considered as split-flow control criteria to obtain more effective and economical design of structural BMPs (best management practices) facilities.

Complete mitochondrial genome of Acrossocheilus parallens (Cypriniformes, Barbinae).

The omnivorous fish Acrossocheilus parallens (Cypriniformes, Barbinae) is endemic to China. In this paper, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of A. parallens was firstly determined. The circle genome (16,592 bp) comprises 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 control region. The overall base composition of A. parallens is 31.0% for A, 24.7% for T, 28.0% for C, and 16.3% for G, with a slight A + T bias of 55.7%. The termination-associated sequence and conserved sequence block domains were found in the control region. It has the typical vertebrate mitochondrial gene arrangement.

A measurement method for atmospheric ammonia and primary amines based on aqueous sampling, OPA derivatization and HPLC analysis.

A method of precolumn derivatization HPLC with fluorescence detection has been developed for the measurement of ammonia, primary methylamine, ethylamine, propylamine, and butylamine in the atmosphere. Air samples were collected by two continuously wetted glass frit/coil samplers, one directly from ambient air for the sum of gaseous and aerosol species, and the other after an acid-coated annular denuder for the aerosol species. The collection efficiency for all analytes was found to be > or = 99% at a sampling gas flow rate of 2 L min(-1) and a scrubbing water flow rate of 0.24 mL min(-1). The collected ammonia and primary amines were derivatized with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) and n-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) reagents in an in-line derivatization coil to form highly fluorescent sulfonatoisoindole derivatives. Detailed kinetic study showed that derivatization reactions were fast but the derivatives were not very stable. Derivatization conditions, such as reagent concentrations, derivatication medium pH, and derivatization time, were optimized to achieve maximum derivative yields for all the analytes. The derivatives were separated on a C-18 reverse-phase column using a gradient elution and detected by a fluorescence detector at an excitation wavelength of 330 nm and an emission wavelength of 471 nm. The respective lower detection limits for ammonia and for the four primary amines were 24 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) and < or = 3 pptv, with a sample time resolution of about 1 min and a sampling/ analysis time of 20 win per cycle. The analytical methodology has been applied in the field measurements; results from two case studies are presented.

Measurement of atmospheric hydroxyacetone, glycolaldehyde, and formaldehyde.

A method has been modified and optimized for the measurements of hydroxyacetone as well as formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde, based on aqueous scrubbing using a coil sampler followed by DNPH derivatization and HPLC analysis. Derivatization equilibrium and kinetics were studied to optimize the hydroxyacetone-DNPH derivative yield. It was found that the low sensitivity of hydroxyacetone by this method is due to a relatively small equilibrium constant for the hydroxyacetone-DNPH derivatization reaction, and thus it can be improved by increasing DNPH reagent concentration. In a medium containing 500 microM DNPH and 50 mM HCl, the derivatization reaches equilibrium within 30 min. An online reagent purification procedure using a DNPH-saturated Sep-Pak C-18 cartridge effectively removed hydrazone impurities in the DNPH reagent solution, and a sample preconcentration procedure using a C-18 guard column greatly enhanced the sensitivity and lowered the detection limits. The lower detection limits of the system under optimized conditions are 30, 9, and 36 pptv for hydroxyacetone, glycolaldehyde, and formaldehyde, respectively, with a sampling/analysis cycle time of 30 min. The method has been successfully deployed at a rural site in Pinnacle State Park in Addison, NY, for a 5 week period during the summer of 1998. The ambient concentration means (medians) were 372 (332), 301 (323), and 2040 (2030) pptv for hydroxyacetone, glycolaldehyde, and formaldehyde, respectively. A late-afternoon maximum and an early morning minimum were observed in the diurnal concentration distributions of all three carbonyl compounds. Good correlations among the three carbonyl compounds suggest that they originated from a common source, i.e., photochemical oxidation of biogenic hydrocarbons. Formaldehyde photolysis accounted for about 23% of the total radical photoproduction, whereas contributionsfrom hydroxyacetone and glycolaldehyde photolysis were insignificant because of the much slower photolysis and lower concentrations of these compounds.

[Total pollution features of urban runoff outlet for urban river].

The urban stormwater runoff discharged to urban river, especially to rainfall source river, cannot be ignored. In this study, the Futian River watershed in Shenzhen city in a typical southern city of China is taken as the research object. In order to guide the pollution control for urban river, the eighteen rainfall events were monitored, and the total pollution features of the urban runoff outlet for this urban river were analyzed and discussed by using the process of pollutographs, the identifying to first flush, event mean concentration (EMC), etc. Results show that the concentrations of COD, SS, TN, TP and BOD5 are ten times more than the grade V of the environmental quality standards for surface water during the runoff time; the pollution caused by heavy metals (Cr, Ge, Cu, Hg and As) in runoff at a typical rainfall event is serious; the average and range of pollutant concentration at this runoff outlet in study area are evidently higher than at Shapingba in Chongqing city of China and at Silerwood in Canada, but are lower than at Shilipu in Wuhan city of China. The first flushes of COD, SS, BOD5, especially COD and SS, are evident, but the TN and TP are not. The average EMC of COD, TN, TP and BOD5 are 224.14, 571.15, 5.223, 2.04, 143.5 mg/L, respectively. To some extent, the EMC of COD is about two times of the value of the near cities, Macao and Zhuhai. The EMC of TN and TP are obviously higher than Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. To compared with foreign counties, the EMC of the study area in Shenzhen is obviously much higher than the cities of Korean, USA and Canada. So the total pollution caused by the urban surface runoff in study area is serious and necessary to be treated.

[Three minimally invasive approaches for treatment of ureteral calculi: a comparative analysis of 326 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect of 3 minimally invasive approaches for ureteral calculi removal and analyze their respective advantages and limitations. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted in 326 patients receiving extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), ureteroscopic lithotripsy (URL) or percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) for ureteral calculi. The clinical data including the stone-free rate and complications were analyzed. RESULTS: The stone free rate was 78.5% (146/186), 91.2 (93/102) and 100% (38/38) in the 3 groups, respectively. According to the stone size, the ESWL group were divided into 3 groups with stone sizes of 0.5-1.0 cm, 1.0-2.0 cm and beyond 2.0 cm, and the stone-free rates were 90.8% (89/98), 69.3% (52/75), and 30.8% (5/13), respectively, showing significant difference between them (P<0.01). In URL group, surgical failure occurred in 9 cases, including 3 cases with difficult entry of the ureter, 5 with stone displacement to the kidneys, and 1 with residual stones over 4 mm. In PCNL group, the percutaneous renal access was successfully established and immediate phase I lithotripsy was performed in all the patients without severe complications recorded during nephrolithotripsy. CONCLUSION: ESWL is the best option for cases with stone smaller than 10 mm. URL suits most of ureteral calculus cases, but successful entrance of the ureteroscope is a prerequisite and retrograde stone displacement is the primary reason for surgical failure. PCNL is effective in the management of complex upper ureteral stones, especially in cases of failed ESWL or ureteroscopy.