Surface-enhanced Raman effect of new coronavirus S protein in gold nanoparticles

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) technology has been widely used in viral molecular detection due to its high sensitivity, simple operation and rapid detection. The research of virus detection by Raman technology at home and abroad mainly focuses on the detection of the SERS spectrum of viral nucleic acids and various bases that make up the nucleic acids, and detection of viral proteins is rare. In this paper, the S protein of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is used as the detection object, and with the label-free SERS detection method, the ordinary Raman spectra of solid and saturated liquid S protein of the SARS-CoV-2 and the SERS spectra of the low-concentration S protein of SARS-CoV-2 on the substrate of gold nanoparticles with a size of 40 nm are compared. The results show that it is completely feasible to use SERS technology to detect the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 on the substrate of 40 nm gold nanoparticles. The carboxyl groups in the S protein molecule of SARS-CoV-2 and gold nanoparticles are molecularly enhanced, and the amino groups and gold nanoparticles are electromagnetically enhanced, so that the Raman effect of the S protein of the SARS-CoV-2 is enhanced and the peak position is moved to a certain extent. The experiments obtained relatively good SERS spectra of the low-concentration S protein of SARS-CoV-2, which provides a method for the establishment of a sensitive, specific and rapid detection technology for the S protein of the SARS-CoV-2. © 2021, Editorial Office of High Power Laser and Particle Beams. All right reserved.

The impact of COVID-19 on consumer food waste. (Special Issue: Covid-19.)

Perhaps no phenomenon has so quickly and radically altered household production parameters and daily food patterns as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We contemplate the immediate and longer-term implications of this public health crisis on the amount of food wasted by consumers. We conclude that the pandemic and its aftermath may improve household skills and management practices in a manner that reduces day-to-day household food waste. However, pandemic-driven disruptions may induce larger intermittent purges of food due to changes in work patterns and food service and food retailing availability. We recommend several steps to reduce waste as the pandemic unfolds.

Corticosteroid therapy for patients with severe novel Coronavirus disease 2019.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of corticosteroid on hospital mortality, hospital length of stay, and time of viral clearance in patients with severe and critical COVID-19. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with severe and critical COVID-19 who had been discharged or expired were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into corticosteroid group and non-corticosteroid group according to the systemic corticosteroid use or not. Clinical data were collected, and hospital mortality, hospital length of stay, time of viral clearance, time of mechanical ventilation, and duration from illness onset to symptom resolution were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 72 inpatients who were diagnosed with severe and critical COVID-19 were enrolled, in which 47 patients were divided into corticosteroid group and 25 were involved as the non-corticosteroid group. Baseline characteristics were generally similar between the two groups. Four (5.6%) patients died during hospitalization, and 68 (94.4%) were discharged. Among survivors, the mean duration time from admission to discharge was 19.5d (SD 7.05 d). The mean time of viral clearance among survivors was 17.5d (SD 7.67 d), with a maximum of 37 d, and a minimum of 5 d. Hospital mortality (4.3% vs. 8.0%), length of hospital stay (18.7d vs. 21.0d), and time of viral clearance (16.1d vs. 19.4d) had no significant difference between two groups (p>0.05). The duration of symptoms suffering was shorter in the corticosteroid group than non-corticosteroid group, with statistically significant difference (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Corticosteroid therapy in patients with severe COVID-19 cannot reduce the hospital mortality, and is not associated with delayed viral clearance, but it could relieve the inflammatory storm and improve clinical symptoms in brief. Patients with severe COVID-19 could benefit from low-dose corticosteroid treatment.

An emergency strategy for intensive care unit during COVID-19 outbreak in Chongqing, China.

OBJECTIVE: Since December 2019, a novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan, China, which has rapidly spread from China to at least 200 countries abroad. COVID-19 was issued a global outbreak and pandemic by the World Health Organization with more than 3 million confirmed cases by May 31, 2020. So far more than ten thousand severe and critically ill patients and hospital-related infection with COVID-19 have been reported with more than four thousand deaths in China. There is a great challenge for intensive care units (ICUs) in hospitals. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The comment mainly focused on admission and discharge criteria, therapy protocol, prevention and control strategies for ICU during COVID-19 outbreak. The emergency strategy for ICU will be helpful for prevention and control of COVID-19 and treatment of critically ill patients with COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Progress in the management of ICU is crucial for a decrease in the mortality of critically ill patients with COVID-19 with the clinical evidence and experience updated.

How to face COVID-19 in ophthalmology practice

Background: The novel coronavirus pneumonia has attracted considerable attention from the international community. With the spread of outbreaks around the world, the WHO characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. Methods: Relevant studies in PubMed were searched from January 1, 2020 to April 12, 2020, using the following search strategy: (“novel coronavirus pneumonia” OR “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2” OR “coronavirus disease 2019” OR “COVID-19” OR “novel coronavirus pneumonia”) AND (“ophthalmology” OR “ophthalmologist” OR “eye” OR “conjunctiva” OR “conjunctivitis” OR “corneal” OR “keratitis”). Results: SARS-CoV-2 can spread through aerosol and is detected in tears of patients with COVID-19 infection. Notably, some infected patients had conjunctivitis, and conjunctivitis was the first symptom in some patients later diagnosed to have COVID-19 infection. This would increase the risk for ophthalmologists through inpatient consultations or regular clinical practice. When dealing with seemingly regular ophthalmic patients, the vigilance of ophthalmologists and associated staff tends to be reduced. Conclusion: Ophthalmologists must continuously update their knowledge regarding COVID-19 and take effective measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission.