Predictive Role of Platelet and Inflammation Markers for Severe COVID-19 by Propensity Score Matching.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to ascertain the predictive value of platelet and inflammation markers in severe cases of COVID-19. METHODS: A retrospective real-world cohort study was conducted using propensity score matching (PSM). Patients were classified into severe and non-severe COVID-19 groups based on the severity of the disease, and the correlation between severe COVID-19 and laboratory parameters at admission was analyzed. RESULTS: The study included 397 adult patients, comprising 212 (53%) males and 185 (47%) females. Among these, 309 were non-severe and 88 were severe cases. The severe group had a higher median age than the non-severe group (60 vs. 42 years, p < 0.001). Independent risk factors for severe COVID-19 included age, diabetes comorbidity, fever, respiratory symptoms, platelet count, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO2) to the fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) (P/F ratio). After one-to-one PSM, adjusted for age, diabetes comorbidities, fever, and respiratory symptoms, significant differences in laboratory parameters at admission were observed. Compared to the non-severe group (n = 71), in the severe group (n = 71), elevated levels of hsCRP (median: 27.1 mg/L vs. 14.6 mg/L, p = 0.005) and IL-6 (median: 16.2 pg/mL vs. 15.3 pg/mL, p = 0.005) were observed, while platelet count (164 ± 36 × 109 vs. 180 ± 50 × 109, p = 0.02) and P/F ratio (median: 351 vs. 397, p = 0.001) were reduced. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated levels of hsCRP and IL-6, along with reduced platelet count and P/F ratio at admission, were significantly associated with severe COVID-19 and may serve as predictive indicators.

The relationship between complement C1q and coronary plaque vulnerability based on optical coherence tomography analysis.

To determine the association between complement C1q and vulnerable plaque morphology among coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. We conducted a retrospective observational study of 221 CAD patients admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. Intravascular optical coherence tomography was utilized to describe the culprit plaques' morphology. Using logistic regression analysis to explore the correlation between C1q and vulnerable plaques, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis assess the predictive accuracy. As reported, the complement C1q level was lower in ACS patients than CCS patients (18.25 ± 3.88 vs. 19.18 ± 4.25, P = 0.045). The low complement-C1q-level group was more prone to develop vulnerable plaques. In lipid-rich plaques, the complement C1q level was positively correlated with the thickness of fibrous cap (r = 0.480, P = 0.041). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses suggested that complement C1q could be an independent contributor to plaques' vulnerability. For plaque rupture, erosion, thrombus, and cholesterol crystals, the areas under the ROC curve of complement C1q level were 0.873, 0.816, 0.785, and 0.837, respectively (P < 0.05 for all). In CAD patients, the complement C1q could be a valuable indicator of plaque vulnerability.

IAVPGEVA: Orally Available DPP4-Targeting Soy Glycinin Derived Octapeptide with Therapeutic Potential in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

IAVPGEVA, an octapeptide derived from soybean 11S globulin hydrolysis, also known as SGP8, has exhibited regulatory effects on lipid metabolism, inflammation, and fibrosis in vitro. Studies using MCD and HFD-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) models in mice show that SGP8 attenuates hepatic injury and metabolic disorders. Mechanistic studies suggest that SGP8 inhibits the JNK-c-Jun pathway in L02 cells and liver tissue under metabolic stress and targets DPP4 with DPP4 inhibitory activity. In conclusion, the results suggest that SGP8 is an orally available DPP4-targeting peptide with therapeutic potential in NASH.

The Nuclear Localization Signal of Porcine Circovirus Type 4 Affects the Subcellular Localization of the Virus Capsid and the Production of Virus-like Particles.

Porcine circovirus 4 (PCV4) is a newly identified virus belonging to PCV of the Circoviridae family, the Circovirus genus. We previously found that PCV4 is pathogenic in vitro, while the virus's replication in cells is still unknown. In this study, we evaluated the N-terminal of the PCV4 capsid (Cap) and identified an NLS at amino acid residues 4-37 of the N-terminus of the PCV4 Cap, 4RSRYSRRRRNRRNQRRRGLWPRASRRRYRWRRKN37. The NLS was further divided into two fragments (NLS-A and NLS-B) based on the predicted structure, including two α-helixes, which were located at 4RSRYSRRRRNRRNQRR19 and 24PRASRRRYRWRRK36, respectively. Further studies showed that the NLS, especially the first α-helixes formed by the NLS-A fragment, determined the nuclear localization of the Cap protein, and the amino acid 4RSRY7 in the NLS of the PCV4 Cap was the critical motif affecting the VLP packaging. These results will provide a theoretical basis for elucidating the infection mechanism of PCV4 and developing subunit vaccines based on VLPs.

Tri-system integration in metal-oxide nanocomposites via in-situ solution-processed method for ultrathin flexible transparent electrodes.

For stable operation of ultrathin flexible transparent electrodes (uFTEs), it is critical to implement effective risk management during concurrent multi-loading operation of electrical bias and mechanical folding cycles in high-humidity environments. Despite extensive efforts in preparing solution-processed uFTEs with cost-effective and high-throughput means, achieving in-situ nano-adhesion in heterogeneous metal-oxide nanocomposites remains challenging. In this work, we observed by serendipity liquid-like behaviour of transparent metal-oxide-semiconductor zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) onto silver nanowires (AgNWs) developed by in-situ solution processed method (iSPM). This enabled us to address the long-standing issue of vulnerability in the nanocomposite caused by the interface of dissimilar materials between AgNWs and ZnONPs, resulting in a remarkably improved multi-loading operation. Importantly, substrate-integrated uFTEs constituted of the metal-oxide nanocomposite electrode semi-embedded in the polymer matrix of greatly thin <0.5 µm thickness is successfully demonstrated with the smooth surface topography, promoted by the tri-system integration including (i) AgNW-AgNW, (ii) ZnONP-ZnONP, and (iii) AgNW-ZnONP systems. Our finding unveils the complex interfacial dynamics associated with the heterogeneous interface system between AgNWs and ZnONPs and holds great promise in understanding the in-situ nano-adhesion process and increasing the design flexibility of next generation solution-processed uFTEs.

Element Regulation and Dimensional Engineering Co-Optimization of Perovskite Memristors for Synaptic Plasticity Applications.

Capitalizing on rapid carrier migration characteristics and outstanding photoelectric conversion performance, halide perovskite memristors demonstrate an exceptional resistive switching performance. However, they have consistently faced constraints due to material stability issues. This study systematically employs elemental modulation and dimension engineering to effectively control perovskite memristors with different dimensions and A-site elements. Compared to pure 3D and 2D perovskites, the quasi-2D perovskite memristor, specifically BA0.15MA0.85PbI3, is identified as the optimal choice through observations of resistive switching (HRS current < 10-5 A, ON/OFF ratio > 103, endurance cycles > 1000, and retention time > 104 s) and synaptic plasticity characteristics. Subsequently, a comprehensive investigation into various synaptic plasticity aspects, including paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), spike-variability-dependent plasticity (SVDP), spike-rate-dependent plasticity (SRDP), and spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), is conducted. Practical applications, such as memory-forgetting-memory and recognition of the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) database handwritten data set (accuracy rate reaching 94.8%), are explored and successfully realized. This article provides good theoretical guidance for synaptic-like simulation in perovskite memristors.

KLF2 Orchestrates Pathological Progression of Infantile Hemangioma through Hemangioma Stem Cell Fate Decisions.

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is the most prevalent vascular tumor during infancy, characterized by a rapid proliferation phase of disorganized blood vessels and spontaneous involution. IH possibily arises from a special type of multipotent stem cells called hemangioma stem cells (HemSCs), which could differentiate into endothelial cells, pericytes, and adipocytes. However, the underlying mechanisms that regulate the cell fate determination of HemSCs remain elusive. Here, we unveil KLF2 as a candidate transcription factor involved in the control of HemSCs differentiation. KLF2 exhibits high expression in endothelial cells in proliferating IH but diminishes in adipocytes in involuting IH. Using a combination of in vitro culture of patient-derived HemSCs and HemSCs implantation mouse models, we show that KLF2 governs the proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle progression of HemSCs. Importantly, KLF2 acts as a crucial determinant of HemSCs' fate, directing their differentiation toward endothelial cells while inhibiting adipogenesis. Knockdown of KLF2 induces a pro-adipogenic transcriptome in HemSCs, leading to impaired blood vessel formation and accelerated adipocyte differentiation. Collectively, our findings highlight KLF2 as a critical regulator controlling the progression and involution of IH by modulating HemSCs' cell fate decisions.

Inhibition of Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia by Blocking Toll-like Receptor 4: Comparison of Wild-Type and Toll-like Receptor 4 Gene Knockout Mice on Obesity and Diabetes Modeling.

Innate immune receptor TLR4 plays an important role in glycolipid metabolism. The objective of this study is to investigate the inhibitory effects of blocking TLR4 on hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia by comparing WT and TLR4-/- mice in obesity and diabetes modeling. The knockout of the TLR4 gene could prevent weight gain induced by a high-fat diet (HFD)/high-sugar and high-fat diet (HSHFD), and the differences in the responses existed between the sexes. It extends the time required to reach the obesity criteria. However, when mice were injected with intraperitoneal streptozotocin (STZ) after being fed by HSHFD for two months, TLR4-/- mice exhibited less weight loss than WT. Blocking TLR4 alleviated the changes in body weight and blood glucose, consequently reducing the efficiency of diabetes modeling, especially for male mice. Additionally, male TLR4-/- obese mice exhibit lower total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels in serum and less formation of fat droplets in the liver compared to WT. On the other hand, the knockout of TLR4 significantly increased the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) of male mice. This study should provide new insights into the role of TLR4, as well as opportunities to target novel approaches to the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes.

Silencing geranylgeranyltransferase I inhibits the migration and invasion of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma through RhoA/ROCK1/MLC signaling and suppresses proliferation through cell cycle regulation.

Geranylgeranyltransferase type I (GGTase-I) significantly affects Rho proteins, such that the malignant progression of several cancers may be induced. Nevertheless, the effect and underlying mechanism of GGTase-I in the malignant progression of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) remain unclear. This study primarily aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of GGTase-I in mediating the malignant progression of SACC. The level of GGTase-I gene in cells was stably knocked down by short hairpin RNA-EGFP-lentivirus. The effects of GGTase-I silencing on the migration, invasion, and spread of cells were examined, the messenger RNA levels of GGTase-I and RhoA genes of SACC cells after GGTase-I knockdown were determined, and the protein levels of RhoA and RhoA membrane of SACC cells were analyzed. Moreover, the potential underlying mechanism of silencing GGTase-I on the above-mentioned aspects in SACC cells was assessed by examining the protein expression of ROCK1, MLC, p-MLC, E-cadherin, Vimentin, MMP2, and MMP9. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism of SACC cells proliferation was investigated through the analysis of the expression of cyclinD1, MYC, E2F1, and p21CIP1/WAF1 . Besides, the change of RhoA level in SACC tissues compared with normal paracancer tissues was demonstrated through quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot experiments. Next, the effect after GGTase-I silencing was assessed through the subcutaneous tumorigenicity assay. As indicated by the result of this study, the silencing of GGTase-I significantly reduced the malignant progression of tumors in vivo while decreasing the migration, invasion, and proliferation of SACC cells and RhoA membrane, Vimentin, ROCK1, p-MLC, MMP2, MMP9, MYC, E2F1, and CyclinD1 expression. However, the protein expression of E-cadherin and p21CIP1/WAF1 was notably upregulated. Subsequently, no significant transform of RhoA and MLC proteins was identified. Furthermore, RhoA expression in SACC tissues was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues. As revealed by the results of this study, GGTase-I shows a correlation with the proliferation of SACC through the regulation of cell cycle and may take on vital significance in the migration and invasion of SACC by regulating RhoA/ROCK1/MLC signaling pathway. GGTase-I is expected to serve as a novel exploration site of SACC.

Study on Dynamic Column Behavior and Complexation Mechanism of DBS-Modified Crown Ether-Based Silica to 90Sr.

A crown ether-loaded hybrid adsorbent suitable for the separation and enrichment of strontium from high-level liquid waste was synthesized. 4',4'(5″)-di(tert-butylcyclohexano)-18-crown-6 (DtBuCH18C6) and its modifiers dodecyl benzenesulfonic acid (DBS) and 1-dodecanol were impregnated into silica-based polymer support. The hybrid adsorbent exhibited excellent Sr(II) selectivity ability, and effective chromatographic separation and recovery of Sr(II) from simulated high-level liquid waste could be achieved with a (DtBuCH18C6 + DBS + dodec)/SiO2-P packed column. The recovery rate of Sr(II) calculated based on the mass balance was approximately 99% and over 80% for the other coexisting metal ions. An appropriate increase in the concentration of Na-DTPA eluent was favorable to improve the efficiency of the elution process because of the increased complexation capacity of [DTPA]5- to Sr(II). The developed theoretical model can simulate the dynamic breakthrough curves of the material on the basis of short column data, thereby predicting the scale-up column of the practical operation. Density functional theory calculation was used to explore the action mechanism of DBS modifiers on the Sr(II) complexation process of crown ether groups. Two Sr(II) complexation isomeric models of DtBuCH18C6 were established, and the calculation results revealed a similar complexation ability. DtBuCH18C6 could form a stable Sr(II) complexation structure with DBS coordination, which further indicated that DBS could be a ligand to promote the Sr(II) adsorption ability of crown ether materials.

MR-Transformer: Multiresolution Transformer for Multivariate Time Series Prediction.

Multivariate time series (MTS) prediction has been studied broadly, which is widely applied in real-world applications. Recently, transformer-based methods have shown the potential in this task for their strong sequence modeling ability. Despite progress, these methods pay little attention to extracting short-term information in the context, while short-term patterns play an essential role in reflecting local temporal dynamics. Moreover, we argue that there are both consistent and specific characteristics among multiple variables, which should be fully considered for MTS modeling. To this end, we propose a multiresolution transformer (MR-Transformer) for MTS prediction, modeling MTS from both the temporal and the variable resolution. Specifically, for the temporal resolution, we design a long short-term transformer. We first split the sequence into nonoverlapping segments in an adaptive way and then extract short-term patterns within segments, while long-term patterns are captured by the inherent attention mechanism. Both of them are aggregated together to capture the temporal dependencies. For the variable resolution, besides the variable-consistent features learned by long short-term transformer, we also design a temporal convolution module to capture the specific features of each variable individually. MR-Transformer enhances the MTS modeling ability by combining multiresolution features between both time steps and variables. Extensive experiments conducted on real-world time series datasets show that MR-Transformer significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art MTS prediction models. The visualization analysis also demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed model.

Preparation and Density Functional Theory Studies of Aluminosilicate-Based Ceramic Solidified Products for Sr Immobilization.

Strontium is a common radionuclide in radioactive waste, and its release into the environment can cause enormous damage to the ecosystem environment. In this study, the natural mineral allophane was selected as the substrate to prepare solidified ceramic products by cold pressing/sintering to solve the problem of the final disposal of radioactive strontium. Ceramic solidified products with various crystal structures were successfully prepared, and the microscopic morphology and energy-dispersive spectroscopy images of the samples showed a uniform distribution of Sr in the solidified products. Sr2Al2SiO7 and SrAl2Si2O8, which can stably solidify strontium, were formed in the solidified products, and the structural characteristics and stability of the above-mentioned substances were analyzed from the perspective of quantum chemical calculations using density functional theory. The calculation results showed that the overall deformation resistance of Sr2Al2SiO7 was higher than that of SrAl2Si2O8. Considering the isomorphic substitution effect of CaO impurities, we inferred that a mixed-crystalline structure of Ca2-xSrxAl2SiO7 may be present in the solidified products.

Interactive effect of booster vaccination and vitamin D status on antibody production of Omicron variant-infected adults: A real-world cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Effect of booster vaccination and vitamin D status on antibody production of Omicron variant-infected adults need to be further explored. METHODS: A retrospective, longitudinal, real-world cohort study was performed. All included cases were divided into vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and non-VDD (control) groups according to baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration and then into unvaccinated, routinely vaccinated, and booster vaccinated VDD and control subgroups according to vaccination status. Antibody dynamics were observed within six time periods during hospitalization. RESULTS: A total of 204 adult cases were included, of which 121 (59%) were males; 23 (11%), 31 (15%), and 26 (13%) or 50 (25%), 35 (17%), and 39 (19%) were unvaccinated, routinely vaccinated, and booster vaccinated VDD cases or controls, respectively. The median (interquartile range) for age and baseline 25(OH)D concentration was 42.5 (31-53.5) years and 21.5 (18-25.4) ng/mL, respectively. The IgM titers within 3 to 7 days and 7 to 14 days increased rapidly to 1.8-fold (P < 0.001) and 3.6-fold (P < 0.001) those within the first day; the IgG titers increased to 5.8-fold (P < 0.001) and 10.9-fold (P < 0.001). Booster vaccinated controls had higher first IgG titers compared with unvaccinated controls (3.1-fold; P = 0.001) or booster vaccinated VDD cases (2.1-fold; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Booster vaccination and non-VDD status may have an interactive boosting effect on IgG production of Omicron variant-infected adults. Further randomized clinical trials may be needed to determine whether booster vaccination combined with VDD correction improves the humoral immunity to Omicron variants.

In vivo antioxidant activity of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei cv. 'Brightwell') anthocyanin extracts. / '灿烂'å“ç§å ”çœ¼è“èŽ“èŠ±é’ç´ æå–ç‰©åœ¨ä½“å† çš„æŠ—æ°§åŒ–æ´»æ€§.

Blueberries are rich in phenolic compounds including anthocyanins which are closely related to biological health functions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant activity of blueberry anthocyanins extracted from 'Brightwell' rabbiteye blueberries in mice. After one week of adaptation, C57BL/6J healthy male mice were divided into different groups that were administered with 100, 400, or 800 mg/kg blueberry anthocyanin extract (BAE), and sacrificed at different time points (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 h). The plasma, eyeball, intestine, liver, and adipose tissues were collected to compare their antioxidant activity, including total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione-peroxidase (GSH-PX/GPX) content, and the oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (MDA) level. The results showed that blueberry anthocyanins had positive concentration-dependent antioxidant activity in vivo. The greater the concentration of BAE, the higher the T-AOC value, but the lower the MDA level. The enzyme activity of SOD, the content of GSH-PX, and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of Cu,Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD, and GPX all confirmed that BAE played an antioxidant role after digestion in mice by improving their antioxidant defense. The in vivo antioxidant activity of BAE indicated that blueberry anthocyanins could be developed into functional foods or nutraceuticals with the aim of preventing or treating oxidative stress-related diseases.

Spatially-variant image deconvolution for photoacoustic tomography.

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) system can reconstruct images of biological tissues with high resolution and contrast. However, in practice, the PAT images are usually degraded by spatially variant blur and streak artifacts due to the non-ideal imaging conditions and chosen reconstruction algorithms. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a two-phase restoration method to progressively improve the image quality. In the first phase, we design a precise device and measuring method to obtain spatially variant point spread function samples at preset positions of the PAT system in image domain, then we adopt principal component analysis and radial basis function interpolation to model the entire spatially variant point spread function. Afterwards, we propose a sparse logarithmic gradient regularized Richardson-Lucy (SLG-RL) algorithm to deblur the reconstructed PAT images. In the second phase, we present a novel method called deringing which is also based on SLG-RL to remove the streak artifacts. Finally, we evaluate our method with simulation, phantom and in vivo experiments, respectively. All the results show that our method can significantly improve the quality of PAT images.

Co-Doping of Al3+ and Ti4+ and Electrochemical Properties of LiNiO2 Cathode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

LiNiO2 cathode material for lithium-ion batteries has the advantages of high specific capacity, abundant resources, and low cost, but it suffers from difficulties in preparation, structural instability, and serious capacity decay. In this work, highly pure and layered structural LiNi0.95 Ala Ti0.05-a O2 (a=0, 0.025, 0.05) cathode materials were synthesized by a simply sol-gel method. The cation mixing of Ni2+ and Li+ , structural deterioration, irreversible conversion between H2 and H3 phases and unstable surface and CEI (Cathode-electrolyte interface) film can be effectively suppressed by co-doping with Al3+ and Ti4+ . A preferred LiNi0.95 Al0.025 Ti0.025 O2 sample provides a discharge specific capacity of 223 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C and 148.32 mAh g-1 at 5 C, a capacity retention of 72.7 % after 300 cycles at 1 C and a Li+ diffusion coefficient of about 2.0×10-9 cm2 s-1 .

Use of a wheat straw covering to reduce nitrogen loss during pig slurry storage and reuse of the straw covering in biochar production for nitrogen retention in the slurry.

Storing pig slurry (PS) and returning it to the field is one of the most important ways to recycle PS. However, during the storage of PS, the NH3 emissions cause a large loss of nitrogen (N), which reduces the fertilizer value of stored PS and cause environmental pollution. To reduce N loss during PS storage, we added different amounts of wheat straw powder (WSP) and wheat straw segments (WSSs) to the PS. The wheat straw cover was used for biochar production, and then, the biochar was used for N adsorption from the PS. The results showed that the N loss of PS was significantly decreased by use of the wheat straw covering. The N losses in treatments of WSP covering and WSSs covering were reduced by 4.8-53.1 and 0.8-14.2 percentage points compared with that in the control, respectively. Ammonia adsorption is an important reason for the reduction in N loss by straw covering during PS storage. After covering for 180 days in storage, the NH4+-N content in both the WSP covering and WSSs covering increased greatly, and the cover was reused for biochar production. The biochar yield was inversely proportional to the pyrolysis temperature, and the specific surface area and pore volume of the biochar were proportional to the pyrolysis temperature. We achieved the highest amount of NH4+-N adsorption (1.9 mg/g) with a biochar dosage of 0.2 g/L (treatment Y-400). This study provides a new straw-covered PS storage method to achieve straw recycling and low N loss during PS storage.

Sk-Conv and SPP-based UNet for lesion segmentation of coronary optical coherence tomography.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) manifests with a blockage the coronary arteries, usually due to plaque buildup, and has a serious impact on the human life. Atherosclerotic plaques, including fibrous plaques, lipid plaques, and calcified plaques can lead to occurrence of CAD. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is employed in the clinical practice as it clearly provides a detailed display of the lesion plaques, thereby assessing the patient's condition. Analyzing the OCT images manually is a very tedious and time-consuming task for the clinicians. Therefore, automatic segmentation of the coronary OCT images is necessary. OBJECTIVE: In view of the good utility of Unet network in the segmentation of medical images, the present study proposed the development of a Unet network based on Sk-Conv and spatial pyramid pooling modules to segment the coronary OCT images. METHODS: In order to extract multi-scale features, these two modules were added at the bottom of UNet. Meanwhile, ablation experiments are designed to verify each module is effective. RESULTS: After testing, our model achieves 0.8935 on f1 score and 0.7497 on mIOU. Compared to the current advanced models, our model performs better. CONCLUSION: Our model achieves good results on OCT sequences.

Effect of vitamin D status on adult COVID-19 pneumonia induced by Delta variant: A longitudinal, real-world cohort study.

Objective: The effect of vitamin D status on adult COVID-19 pneumonia induced by Delta variant remains to be further explored. Methods: A longitudinal, real-world cohort study was performed. Artificial intelligence (AI) was used to identify and measure pneumonia lesions. All cases with pneumonia were divided into the vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and control groups according to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration. Lesion dynamics were observed within six time periods after the onset of pneumonia. Results: A total of 161 cases were included, of which 101 (63%) were male and 46 (29%) presented with pneumonia. The median age and baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were 37 years and 21 ng/ml, respectively. Age, fibrinogen, and SARS-CoV-2 IgG titer on admission were independent predictors for the onset of pneumonia. After the onset of pneumonia, patients in the VDD group (n = 18) had higher percentage of fever (33 vs. 7.1%; p = 0.04) than those in the control group (n = 28); the interval of pneumonia resolution was longer (28 vs. 21 days; p = 0.02); lesions progressed more rapidly (p = 0.01) within 3 to 7 days and improved more slowly (p = 0.007) within more than 28 days; notably, simultaneous interleukin-6 (18.7 vs. 14.6 pg/ml; p = 0.04) levels were higher, and cycle thresholds for N gene (22.8 vs. 31.3; p = 0.04) and ORF1ab gene (20.9 vs. 28.7; p = 0.03) were lower within 3 to 7 days. Conclusion: Vitamin D status may have effects on the progression and resolution, but not the onset of Delta variant-induced pneumonia in adults. Computed tomography image diagnosis system based on AI may have promising applications in the surveillance and diagnosis of novel SARS-CoV-2 variant-induced pneumonia.