, there have been 77,269 officially reported confirmed cases of 2019 novel corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) infection in China. As lung abnormalities may develop before clinical manifestations and nucleic acid detection, experts have recommended early chest computerized tomography (CT) for screening suspected patients [1]. The high contagiousness of SARS-CoV-2 and the risk of transporting unstable patients with hypoxemia and hemodynamic failure make chest CT a limited option for the patient with suspected or established COVID-19. Lung ultrasonography gives the results that are similar to chest CT and superior to standard chest radiography for evaluation of pneumonia and/ or adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with the added advantage of ease of use at point of care, repeatability, absence of radiation exposure, and low cost [2]. In this report, we summarize our early experience with lung ultrasonography for evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 infection in China with the intent of alerting frontline intensivists to the utility of lung ultrasonography for management of COVID-19. Ultrasonographic features of nCoV pneumonia We performed lung ultrasonography on 20 patients with COVID-19 using a 12-zone method [3]. Characteristic findings included the following:

The connection between an altered gut microbiota and metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease is well established. Defects in preserving the integrity of the mucosal barriers can result in systemic endotoxaemia that contributes to chronic low-grade inflammation, which further promotes the development of metabolic syndrome. Interleukin (IL)-22 exerts essential roles in eliciting antimicrobial immunity and maintaining mucosal barrier integrity within the intestine. Here we investigate the connection between IL-22 and metabolic disorders. We find that the induction of IL-22 from innate lymphoid cells and CD4(+) T cells is impaired in obese mice under various immune challenges, especially in the colon during infection with Citrobacter rodentium. While innate lymphoid cell populations are largely intact in obese mice, the upregulation of IL-23, a cytokine upstream of IL-22, is compromised during the infection. Consequently, these mice are susceptible to C. rodentium infection, and both exogenous IL-22 and IL-23 are able to restore the mucosal host defence. Importantly, we further unveil unexpected functions of IL-22 in regulating metabolism. Mice deficient in IL-22 receptor and fed with high-fat diet are prone to developing metabolic disorders. Strikingly, administration of exogenous IL-22 in genetically obese leptin-receptor-deficient (db/db) mice and mice fed with high-fat diet reverses many of the metabolic symptoms, including hyperglycaemia and insulin resistance. IL-22 shows diverse metabolic benefits, as it improves insulin sensitivity, preserves gut mucosal barrier and endocrine functions, decreases endotoxaemia and chronic inflammation, and regulates lipid metabolism in liver and adipose tissues. In summary, we identify the IL-22 pathway as a novel target for therapeutic intervention in metabolic diseases.

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Polarized detection has been brought into operation for optics applications in the visible band. Meanwhile, an advanced requirement in short-wave near-infrared (SW-NIR) (700-1100 nm) is proposed. Typical IV-VI chalcogenides-2D GeSe with anisotropic layered orthorhombic structure and narrow 1.1-1.2 eV band gap-potentially meets the demand. Here we report the unusual angle dependences of Raman spectra on high-quality GeSe crystals. The polarization-resolved absorption spectra (400-950 nm) and polarization-sensitive photodetectors (532, 638, and 808 nm) both exhibited well-reproducible cycles, distinct anisotropic features, and typical absorption ratios α/α ≈ 1.09 at 532 nm, 1.26 at 638 nm, and 3.02 at 808 nm (the dichroic ratio I/I ≈ 1.09 at 532 nm, 1.44 at 638 nm, 2.16 at 808 nm). Obviously, the polarized measurement for GeSe showed superior anisotropic response at around 808 nm within the SW-NIR band. Besides, the two testing methods have demonstrated the superior reliability for each other. For the layer dependence of linear dichroism, the GeSe samples with different thicknesses measured under both 638 and 808 nm lasers identify that the best results can be achieved at a moderate thickness about 8-16 nm. Overall, few-layer GeSe has capacity with the integrated SW-NIR optical applications for polarization detection.

The interleukin-20 (IL-20) subfamily of cytokines comprises IL-19, IL-20, IL-22, IL-24 and IL-26. These cytokines are all members of the larger IL-10 family, but have been grouped together to form the IL-20 subfamily based on their usage of common receptor subunits and similarities in their target-cell profiles and biological functions. Members of the IL-20 subfamily facilitate the communication between leukocytes and epithelial cells, thereby enhancing innate defence mechanisms and tissue repair processes at epithelial surfaces. In this Review, we describe the cellular sources and targets of the IL-20 subfamily cytokines, and we detail how their expression is regulated. Much of our understanding of the unique biology of this group of cytokines is still based on IL-22, which is the most studied member of the IL-20 subfamily. Nevertheless, we attempt a broader discussion of the emerging functions of IL-20 subfamily cytokines in host defence, inflammatory diseases, cancer and metabolism.

We study open quantum systems whose evolution is governed by a master equation of Kossakowski-Gorini-Sudarshan-Lindblad type and give a characterization of the convex set of steady states of such systems based on the generalized Bloch representation. It is shown that an isolated steady state of the Bloch equation cannot be a center, i.e., that the existence of a unique steady state implies attractivity and global asymptotic stability. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a unique steady state are derived and applied to different physical models including two-and four-level atoms, (truncated) harmonic oscillators, and composite and decomposable systems. It is shown how these criteria could be exploited in principle for quantum reservoir engineeing via coherent control and direct feedback to stabilize the system to a desired steady state. We also discuss the question of limit points of the dynamics. Despite the non-existence of isolated centers, open quantum systems can have nontrivial invariant sets. These invariant sets are center manifolds that arise when the Bloch superoperator has purely imaginary eigenvalues and are closely related to decoherence-free subspaces.

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Repeated non-contingent cocaine injections, which lead to behavioral sensitization, increase α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate receptor (AMPAR) transmission in the rodent nucleus accumbens (NAc) in a withdrawal-dependent manner. On withdrawal days (WD) 10-21, this is attributable to upregulation of GluA1A2-containing AMPARs. However, synaptic incorporation of GluA2-lacking/Ca2+ permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs) was observed after longer withdrawal (WD35) from repeated non-contingent cocaine injections in young mice (Mameli et al., 2009). CP-AMPARs had previously been observed in NAc synapses only after prolonged (WD30-47) withdrawal from extended access cocaine self-administration. Our goal was to determine if rats receiving repeated non-contingent cocaine injections during adulthood similarly exhibit CP-AMPARs in the NAc after prolonged withdrawal. For comparison, we began by evaluating CP-AMPARs on WD35-49 after extended access cocaine self-administration. Confirming our previous results, whole cell recordings revealed inwardly rectifying AMPAR excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs), a hallmark of CP-AMPARs. This was observed in both core and shell. Next, we conducted the same analysis in adult rats treated with 8 daily non-contingent cocaine injections and recorded on WD35-49. AMPAR EPSCs in core and shell did not show inward rectification, and were insensitive to 1-naphthylacetylspermine (Naspm; a selective antagonist of CP-AMPARs). Locomotor sensitization could still be demonstrated after this long withdrawal period, although the upregulation of GluA1A2-containing AMPARs observed at earlier withdrawal times was no longer detected. In conclusion, in adult rats, accumulation of synaptic CP-AMPARs in the NAc occurs after prolonged withdrawal from extended access cocaine self-administration but not after prolonged withdrawal from non-contingent cocaine injections.