Highlights Initial blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and D-dimer levels were associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients. Combination of BUN ≥ 4.6 mmol/L and D-dimer ≥ 0.845 μg/mL can identify patients at high risk of in-hospital mortality. Development of a nomogram model based on initial BUN and D-dimer levels. The nomogram could be a suitable and useful individualised tool to predict mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Symmetry-breaking synthesis of colloidal nanocrystals with desired structures and properties has aroused widespread interest in various fields, but the lack of robust synthetic protocols and the complex growth kinetics limit their practical applications. Herein, a general strategy is developed to synthesize the Au-Cu Janus nanocrystals (JNCs) through the site-selective growth of Cu nanodomains on Au nanocrystals, which is directed by the substantial lattice mismatch between them, with the assistance of judicious manipulation of the growth kinetics. This strategy can work on Au nanocrystals with different architectures for the achievement of diverse asymmetric Au-Cu hybrid nanostructures. Of particular note, the obtained Au nanobipyramids (Au NBPs)-based JNCs facilitate the conversion of CO 2 to C 2 hydrocarbon production during electrocatalysis, with the Faradaic efficiency and maximum partial current density being 4.1-fold and 6.4-fold higher than those of their monometallic Cu counterparts, respectively. The excellent electrocatalytic performances benefit from the special design of the Au-Cu Janus architectures and their tandem catalysis mechanism as well as the high-index facets on Au nanocrystals. This research provides a new approach to synthesize various hybrid Janus nanostructures, facilitating the study of structure-function relationship in the catalytic process and the rational design of efficient heterogeneous electrocatalysts.

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Plasmonic hot electrons have shown great potential in photocatalysis, but little is known about the hot hole-driven chemical reactions due to the lack of desired plasmonic metal/p-type semiconductor architectures. Herein, we describe a general and robust strategy for the site-selective growth of a p-type semiconductor, Cu 2 O on Au nanocrystals (NCs), to produce diverse spatially separated Au/Cu 2 O heterostructures. The preferential growth of Cu 2 O on the tips/ ends/edges of Au NCs is directed by the sparse coverage of the surfactant molecules at the high-curvature sites of Au NCs. The obtained dumbbell-shaped nanostructures serve as the ideal platforms for probing the hot-hole-mediated CO 2 reduction reaction. Benefiting from the hot-hole injection, a new reaction pathway is unlocked, and the C 2 product activity and selectivity are significantly improved. This study demonstrates the genuine superiority of the dumbbell-shaped nanostructures in photocatalysis, offering a new unique avenue to explore the underlying mechanism of hot-hole-mediated chemical reactions.

Personal protective behaviors and their dynamic change are known to play a major role in the community spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causal pathogen of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, a total of 3229 students in Chinese universities completed an online survey about their knowledge on transmission and personal protective behavior before and after COVID-19 vaccination. Of the respondents, 87.6% had been vaccinated. Most students believed that the large droplet (97.0%) and short-range airborne (89.3%) routes were the two most likely SARS-CoV-2 transmission routes, whereas only 24.1% considered long-range airborne transmission to be possible. Students who would be expected to possess better knowledge about virus transmission (e.g., students of medicine) reported better personal protective behaviors. Female students reported relatively better personal hygiene practices than male students, so did the confident students than their diffident peers. Students washed their hands on average of 5.76 times per day during the pandemic. Students at universities in southern regions washed their hands more frequently but paid less attention to indoor ventilation than did their northern counterparts. Interestingly, students who are fear of being infected had the bad personal hygiene. University students wore 22% less masks in public indoor environments after vaccination. Chinese university students weakened their personal protective behavior after vaccination and it may increase the potential risk of infection in the new waves of variant virus (e.g. delta).

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is a crucial process in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, is currently dominated by Pt-based electrocatalysts. However, these catalysts are expensive and rare on Earth; therefore, these factors are considered to impede the widespread commercialization of these technologies. As a consequence, the development of non-Pt catalysts (such as transition-metal materials) with high performance for ORR has become a main focus of research regarding these renewable energy devices. In the present work, a series of porous triazine-based frameworks (PTFs) co-decorated by iron and iodine have been successfully prepared, using different element doping sequences during the synthesis process. The PTF-Fe-I catalysts shows a high ORR activity in both alkaline and acidic media, with an onset potential of 0.95 V (in basic medium) or 0.85 V (in acidic medium) at a loading of 0.3 mg cm–2. This performance not only exceeds that of the dual-doped counterparts (PTF-I-Fe and PTF-(Fe, I)), but is also comparable to that of the Pt/C catalyst under identical measuring conditions. This work demonstrates a promising synthesis–engineering strategy for the future design and preparation of highly efficient Pt-free electrocatalysts.

Personal protective behaviors of healthcare workers (HCWs) and dynamic changes in them are known to play a major role in the hospital transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this study, 1,499 HCWs in Chinese hospitals completed an online survey about their knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 transmission and their personal protective behaviors before and after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. Of all the respondents, 89% were vaccinated at the time of the survey and 96% believed that the vaccine was effective or highly effective. Further, 88% of the vaccinated HCWs expressed that they would get revaccinated if the vaccination failed. Compared with HCWs with a lower education level, those with a higher education level had less fear of being infected with SARS-CoV-2 and reported a lower negative impact of the pandemic on how they treated patients. Physicians and nurses were willing to believe that short-range airborne and long-range fomite are possible transmission routes. HCWs with a higher education level had a better knowledge of COVID-19 but worse personal protective behaviors. The fact that HCWs with a longer work experience had worse personal protective behaviors showed that HCWs gradually relax their personal protective behaviors over time. Moreover, vaccination reduced the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on how the HCWs treated patients. Importantly, the survey revealed that after vaccination, HCWs in China did not relax their personal protective behaviors, and it may bring a low potential risk for following waves of variant virus (e.g., delta).

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