ABSTRACT
Objective: To invetigate the influencing factors and clinical significance of liver function damage (LFD) in patients diagnosed with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Method(s): The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 51 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Sino-French New City Branch of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology by the 5th group assisting team from the First Hospital of Jilin University from February 9th to 27th in 2020 were collected. There were 27 males and 24 females, aged from 36 to 86 years, with an average age of 68 years. The treatment modality was according to the diagnostic and therapeutic guideline for COVID-19 (Trial 6th edition) issued by National Health Commission. Observation indicators: (1) clinical data of patients;(2) analysis of liver function index and treatment of LFD;(3) analysis of influencing factors for LFD. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean+/-SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M (range). Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. The Logistic regression method was used for univariate analysis. Result(s): (1) Clinical data of patients: of the 51 patients, 21 were classified as ordinary type of COVID-19, 19 as severe type and 11 as critical type. In terms of medical history, 31 patients suffered from more than or equal to one kind of chronic disease, 20 had no history of chronic disease. Thirteen patients had the drinking history and 38 had no drinking history. Seven patients were hepatitis positive and 44 were hepatitis negative. Five patients had septic shock at admission, 5 had systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and 41 had neither shock nor SIRS. The body mass index (BMI), time from onset to admission, temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate of the 51 patients were (24+/-3)kg/m2, (13+/-5)days, 36.5 (range, 36.0-38.1 ), 82 times/minutes (range, 50-133 times/minutes), 20 times/minutes (range, 12-40 times/minutes). The white blood cell count, level of creatinine, and level of b-type natriuretic peptide within 24 hours after admission were 6.3x109/L [range, (2.2-21.7)x109/L], 75 mumol/L (range, 44-342 mumol/L), 214 ng/L (range, 5-32 407 ng/L). (2) Analysis of liver function index and treatment of LFD: the level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), direct bilirubin (DBil), indirect bilirubin (IBil), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT) were 31 U/L (range, 7-421 U/L), 29 U/L (range, 15-783 U/L), 36 U/L (range, 13-936 U/L), 76 U/L (range, 41-321 U/L), 4.9 mumol/L (range, 2.6-14.3 mumol/L), 5.8 mumol/L (range, 2.6-23.9 mumol/L), 37.2 s (range, 30.9-77.1 s), 13.9 s (range, 12.5-26.7 s), respectively. The percentages of cases with abnormal ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, DBil, IBil, APTT and PT were 47.1%(24/51), 47.1%(24/51), 35.3%(18/51), 13.7%(7/51), 7.8%(4/51), 2.0%(1/51), 21.6%(11/51), and 19.6%(10/51), respectively. Of the 51 patients, LFD was detected in 10 patients classified as ordinary type, in 9 patients as severe type, and in 10 as critical type, respectively. In the 51 patients, 1 of 22 patients with normal liver function developed respiratory failure and received mechanical ventilation within 24 hours after admission, while 9 of 29 patients with abnormal liver function developed respiratory failure and received mechanical ventilation, showing a significant difference between the two groups (chi2=5.57, P<0.05). (3) Analysis of influencing factors for LFD. Results of univariate analysis showed that clinical classification of COVID-19 as critical type was a related factor for LFD of patients (odds ratio=10.000, 95% confidence interval: 1.050-95.231, P<0.05). Conclusion(s): COVID-19 patients with LFD are more susceptible to develop respiratory failure. The clinical classification of COVID-19 as critic l type is a related factor for LFD of patients.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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Objective: To develop a rapid risk assessment tool for imported COVID-19 cases and provide reference evidences for prevention and control of COVID-19 at ports. Methods: The information about COVID-19 pandemic and control strategies of 12 concerned countries was collected during July to August 2021, and 12 indexes were selected to assess the importation risk of COVID-19 by risk matrix. Results: The risk for imported COVID-19 cases from 12 countries to China was high or extremely high, and the risk from Russia and the USA was highest. Conclusions: The developed rapid risk assessment tool based on the risk matrix method can be used to determine the risk level of countries for imported COVID-19 cases to China at ports, and the risk of imported COVID-19 was high at Beijing port in August 2021.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has made most schools, universities, and gathering spaces fully virtual. Commonly used communication platforms such as Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams are limited in recreating physical interactions and offer mostly static interfaces with limited occasions for spontaneous encounters. This project creates a space that seeks to address this issue, first through the digitization of familiar physical spaces, and then through their augmentation via WebXR technologies[1]. A gamification strategy is adopted, where users can virtually learn, collaborate and socialize through personalized avatars within a dynamic and multi-sensorial digital environment. In this paper, we present a completed prototype that is currently being tested at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The school of architecture has been digitized and experientially augmented thanks to an asymmetrical system that offers rich modalities of interaction through different platforms. The project builds upon the wide experiential potential of digital platforms, otherwise not possible in reality, and implements a customized multi-modal user interface (Reeves et al. 2004). © 2021, Education and research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To analyze the spatio-temporal expression profile of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the receptor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), in human and mouse testes based on single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq). Methods: Ten testicular tissues from humans and nine testicular tissues from C57BL/6 mice with normal developmental stages were collected and digested into single cell suspensions by enzyme, and then the cell-gene expression matrixes were obtained by scRNA-Seq standard processing procedures. After quality control, data standardization, batch effect processing, clustering, and dimensionality reduction, each subgroup of cells was annotated based on known testicular cell bio-markers to clarify the expression patterns and differences of ACE2 in human and mouse testes with normal developmental stages. Results: In this study, nine testicular cell subgroups found in human and mice were identified, including three subgroups of germ cells (spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and spermatids/sperm) and six subgroups of somatic cells (Sertoli cells, macrophages, vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, Leydig cells, and peritubular myoid cells). In terms of spatial distribution, ACE2 was predominantly expressed in human Sertoli cells in adult testes, and also expressed in Leydig cells, peritubular myoid cells, and germ cells. In terms of time scale, the transcription abundance of ACE2 in human Sertoli cells increased with the development of testis, and the expression level of ACE2 in Sertoli cells after puberty was significantly higher than that in infancy and childhood (P=0.000). Judging from the stages of mouse testicular development, the expression patterns of Ace2 were both significantly different from those in humans. In testis of the 5-week-old adult C57BL/6 mouse, the transcription level of Ace2 was low and it was mainly expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells (P=0.000), while the number of Ace2 positive cell in Sertoli cells was extremely low. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 may mainly infects human testis through Sertoli cells, and the conventional C57BL/6 mouse model is not suitable to simulate the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on human testicular function.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To invetigate the influencing factors and clinical significance of liver function damage (LFD) in patients diagnosed with Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 51 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Sino-French New City Branch of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology by the 5th group assisting team from the First Hospital of Jilin University from February 9th to 27th in 2020 were collected. There were 27 males and 24 females, aged from 36 to 86 years, with an average age of 68 years. The treatment modality was according to the diagnostic and therapeutic guideline for COVID-19 (Trial 6th edition) issued by National Health Commission. Observation indicators: (1) clinical data of patients;(2) analysis of liver function index and treatment of LFD;(3) analysis of influencing factors for LFD. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M (range). Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. The Logistic regression method was used for univariate analysis. Results: (1) Clinical data of patients: of the 51 patients, 21 were classified as ordinary type of COVID-19, 19 as severe type and 11 as critical type. In terms of medical history, 31 patients suffered from more than or equal to one kind of chronic disease, 20 had no history of chronic disease. Thirteen patients had the drinking history and 38 had no drinking history. Seven patients were hepatitis positive and 44 were hepatitis negative. Five patients had septic shock at admission, 5 had systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and 41 had neither shock nor SIRS. The body mass index (BMI), time from onset to admission, temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate of the 51 patients were (24±3)kg/m2, (13±5)days, 36.5 ℃ (range, 36.0-38.1 ℃), 82 times/minutes (range, 50-133 times/minutes), 20 times/minutes (range, 12-40 times/minutes). The white blood cell count, level of creatinine, and level of b-type natriuretic peptide within 24 hours after admission were 6.3×109/L [range, (2.2-21.7)×109/L], 75 μmol/L (range, 44-342 μmol/L), 214 ng/L (range, 5-32 407 ng/L). (2) Analysis of liver function index and treatment of LFD: the level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), direct bilirubin (DBil), indirect bilirubin (IBil), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT) were 31 U/L (range, 7-421 U/L), 29 U/L (range, 15-783 U/L), 36 U/L (range, 13-936 U/L), 76 U/L (range, 41-321 U/L), 4.9 μmol/L (range, 2.6-14.3 μmol/L), 5.8 μmol/L (range, 2.6-23.9 μmol/L), 37.2 s (range, 30.9-77.1 s), 13.9 s (range, 12.5-26.7 s), respectively. The percentages of cases with abnormal ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, DBil, IBil, APTT and PT were 47.1%(24/51), 47.1%(24/51), 35.3%(18/51), 13.7%(7/51), 7.8%(4/51), 2.0%(1/51), 21.6%(11/51), and 19.6%(10/51), respectively. Of the 51 patients, LFD was detected in 10 patients classified as ordinary type, in 9 patients as severe type, and in 10 as critical type, respectively. In the 51 patients, 1 of 22 patients with normal liver function developed respiratory failure and received mechanical ventilation within 24 hours after admission, while 9 of 29 patients with abnormal liver function developed respiratory failure and received mechanical ventilation, showing a significant difference between the two groups (χ2=5.57, P<0.05). (3) Analysis of influencing factors for LFD. Results of univariate analysis showed that clinical classification of COVID-19 as critical type was a related factor for LFD of patients (odds ratio=10.000, 95% confidence interval: 1.050-95.231, P<0.05). Conclusions: COVID-19 patients with LFD are more susceptible to develop respiratory failure. The clinical classification of COVID-19 as cr tical type is a related factor for LFD of patients. Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To report the epidemiological, clinical, and radiological characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in Xiaogan, Hubei, China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The complete clinical and imaging data of 114 confirmed COVID-19 patients treated in Xiaogan Hospital were analysed retrospectively. Data were gathered regarding the presence of chest computed tomography (CT) abnormalities; the distribution, morphology, density, location, and stage of abnormal shadows on chest CT; and observing the correlation between the severity of chest infection and lymphocyte ratio and blood oxygen saturation (SPO2) in patients. RESULTS: Chest CT revealed abnormal lung shadows in 110 patients. Regarding lesion distribution, multi-lobe lesions in both lungs were present in most patients (80 cases; 72.7%). Lesions most frequently involved both the peripheral zone and the central zone (62 cases; 56.4%). Regarding lesion morphology, 56 cases (50.1%) demonstrated patchy shadows that were partially fused into large areas. Thirty cases showed ground-glass opacity (27.3%), 30 cases showed the consolidation change (27.3%), and the remaining 50 cases showed both types of changes (45.4%). The progressing stage was the most common stage (54 cases; 49.1%). CT results showed a negative correlation with SPO2 and lymphocyte numbers (p<0.05), with r-values of -0.446 and -0.780, respectively. CONCLUSION: Spiral CT is a sensitive examination method, which can be applied to make an early diagnosis and for evaluation of progression, with a diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy better than that of nucleic acid detection.