The role transition of radiotherapy for the treatment of liver cancer in the COVID-19 era

The uncontrollable COVID-19 crises in the SARS-CoV-2 high-prevalence areas have greatly disrupted the routine treatment of liver cancer and triggered a role transformation of radiotherapy for liver cancer. The weight of radiotherapy in the treatment algorithm for liver cancer has been enlarged by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is helpful for the optimal risk-benefit profile.

Oil and renewable energy stock markets: Unique role of extreme shocks

Various environmental issues and destructive disasters have driven the attention of renewable energy sources to an unprecedented level. Based on extreme shocks, this paper mainly examines the causal relations of oil and renewable energy markets from the perspectives of time and frequency domains. We find the causal relations of Wilder Hill Clean Energy index (NEX) and West Texas Intermediate oil futures nearly do not exist in normal shocks but mainly exist among the extreme shocks, especially during the long-term and short-term horizons. These results are robust considering alternative oil futures benchmark and alternative renewable energy stocks. Interestingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we find that significant causal relations mainly exist among the extreme shocks of NEX and WTI, but the relations are weaker. Our paper aims to disclose new insights into oil and renewable energy stock markets, which are of vital importance to related enterprises, market participants, policy makers, and scholars.

CT manifestations of the coronavirus disease 2019 in patients outside Wuhan: with a history of exposure to Wuhan vs. with second-generation infection (preprint)

Objective: To explore discrepancy in CT manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients outside Wuhan between cases with a history of exposure to Wuhan and with the second-generation infection.Methods: Twenty-two patients with confirmed COVID-19 from two hospitals in Nanchong outside Wuhan were enrolled. All patients underwent initial and follow-up computed tomography after admission, and were divided into two groups. Group A and B were composed of 15 patients with a history of exposure to Wuhan and 7 with the second-generation infection in Nanchong, respectively. Initial CT features including extent score and density score between groups were statistically compared.Results: All patients in group A had abnormal CT findings while 3 of 7 patients in group B had. Patients with abnormal CT findings were more frequent in group A than in group B (P < 0.05). On initial CT, pure ground glass opacity (GGO), and GGO with consolidation and/or other abnormalities were found in 20% (3/15) and 80% (12/15) patients in group A, respectively, while 1 (14.3%), 2 (28.6%) and 4 (57.1%) had pure GGO, GGO with focal consolidation, and normal CT appearances in Group B, respectively. Patients with extent and density scores of ≥5 were more frequent in group A than in group B (Ps < 0.01). Additionally, 3 of 4 (75%) patients with normal initial CT findings had focal pure GGO lesions on follow-up CT.Conclusion: The COVID-19 in patients with a history of exposure to Wuhan can be severer than with the second-generation infection on CT.