Dual-bionic nano-groove structured nanofibers for breathable and moisture-wicking protective respirators.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic makes protective respirators highly demanded. The respirator materials should filter out viral fine aerosols effectively, allow airflow to pass through easily, and wick away the exhalant moisture timely. However, the commonly used melt-blown nonwovens perform poorly in meeting these requirements simultaneously. Herein, dual-bionic nano-groove structured (NGS) nanofibers are fabricated to serve as protective, breathable and moisture-wicking respirator materials. The creativity of this design is that the tailoring of dual-bionic nano-groove structure, combined with the strong polarity and hydrophilicity of electrospinning polymer, not only endows the nanofibrous materials with improved particle capture ability but also enable them to wick away and transmit breathing moisture. Benefitting from the synthetic effect of hierarchical structure and the intrinsic property of polymers, the resulting NGS nanofibrous membranes show a high filtration efficiency of 99.96%, a low pressure drop of 110 Pa, and a high moisture transmission rate of 5.67 kg m-2 d-1 at the same time. More importantly, the sharp increase of breathing resistance caused by the condensation of exhaled moisture is avoided, overcoming the bottleneck faced by traditional nonwovens and paving a new way for developing protective respirators with high wear comfortability.

Changes of serum LXA4, Card9 and PTX-3 in patients with severe acute pancreatitis and their predictive value for complicated MODS

Objective: To investigate the changes of serum lipoxin A4 (LXA4), caspase recruitment domain containing protein 9 (Card9), and pentraxin 3 (PTX-3) in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and their predictive value of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS).

Genome-wide association study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Chinese population.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health concern. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between genetic variants and SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity in Chinese population. A total of 256 individuals including 87 symptomatic patients (tested positive for SARS-CoV-2), 84 asymptomatic cases, and 85 close contacts of confirmed patients (tested negative for SARS-CoV-2) were recruited from February 2020 to May 2020. We carried out the whole exome genome sequencing between the individuals and conducted a genetic association study for SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity. In total, we analyzed more than 100,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The genome-wide association study suggested potential correlation between genetic variability in POLR2A, ANKRD27, MAN1A2, and ERAP1 genes and SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility. The most significant gene locus associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection was located in POLR2A (p = 5.71 × 10-6). Furthermore, genetic variants in PCNX2, CD200R1L, ZMAT3, PLCL2, NEIL3, and LINC00700 genes (p < 1 × 10-5) were closely associated with the COVID-19 severity in Chinese population. Our study confirmed that new genetic variant loci had significant association with SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity in Chinese population, which provided new clues for the studies on the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection and the COVID-19 severity. These findings may give a better understanding on the molecular pathogenesis of COVID-19 and genetic basis of heterogeneous susceptibility, with potential impact on new therapeutic options.

Mental health status of primary school students during the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic and its influencing factors

Objective To study the mental health status of primary school students and the factors influencing the mental health status during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. Methods Online questionnaire surveys were conducted among 3 600 primary school students aged 6-12 years in Jilin Province, China in April, 2020 (during the epidemic) and 3 089 primary school students in September, 2020 (during the regular epidemic prevention and control). The general information and the data related to the Mental Health Scale for Child and Adolescent were collected by the questionnaire surveys. The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the factors influencing the mental health status of the students during the epidemic. Results The students during the epidemic had a significantly poorer mental health status in the emotional experience and volitional behavior than those during the regular epidemic prevention and control (P<0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed the risk of psychological problems of the students decreased with age (OR=0.895). The girls were at a higher risk of psychological problems than boys (OR=1.453). The students with father's and mother's charater between irritability and gentle were at a lower risk of psychological problems (OR=0.496 and 0.470 respectively). The students from a family with a parental education style of a combination of encouraging and scolding were at a lower risk of psychological problems (OR=0.263). The students from a single-parent family or an extended family were at a higher risk of psychological problems (OR=2.995 and 3.446 respectively). Conclusions The COVID-19 epidemic has a certain impact on emotional experience and volitional behavior of primary school students. During the epidemic, particular attention should be paid to the mental health of primary school students, especially girls, younger students, and students from single-parent families, extended families or families with impatient parents and improper parental education.