In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in Wuhan, China and presented a major threat to public health. Nationwide, there were more than 70 000 confirmed cases and 2500 deaths. Most patients were elderly, with severe disease. For acute respiratory infection, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is routinely used to detect causative viruses in respiratory secretions. Coronavirus RNA can be detected from nose and throat swabs, sputum and other lower respiratory tract secretions, blood, and feces. Such specimens were examined by RT-PCR. Three targets, RdRP, E, and N genes were detected, indicating samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2. After patient recovery, a chest computed tomography examination, combined with SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection, confirmed diagnosis. However, some recovery patients with negative RNA tests turned RNA positive. The preliminary data is about 14% of discharged patients in Guangdong reported by the Guangdong Center for Disease Control (CDC). This is an important scientific issue. If samples are positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, patients should be managed according to infection source. Fortunately, there were no close contacts of second-generation cases. We herein report six SARS-CoV-2 cases confirmed in our hospital, for the changes of results of SARS-CoV-2 RNA should attract attention. Most patients were elderly, with a low Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI). However, the association of the phenomenon with aging and GNRIhas not yet been reported in detail. Further investigations are necessary to confirm and improve these findings. Similarly, discharged patient follow-up should be strengthened.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most commonly diagnosed liver cancer, accounting for ~90% of all primary malignancy of the liver. Although various medical treatments have been used as systemic therapies, patient survival time may be extended by only a few months. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms of HCC development and progression remain poorly understood. In the present study, the single-cell transcriptome of one in vivo HCC tumor sample, two in vitro HCC cell lines and normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analysed in order to identify the potential mechanism underlying the development and progression of HCC. Interestingly, JunB proto-oncogene was identified to serve a role in the immune response and in development and progression of HCC, potentially contributing to the development of novel therapeutics for HCC patients.

Background: Cathepsin B (CTSB) and cystatin C (CYSC) are new biomarkers for several physiological and pathological processes as their activities increase with age. The aim of this study was to explore population-level associations between serum CTSB and CYSC with an age-related pulmonary subclinical state. Methods: We examined 401 healthy participants (aged 36–87 years, of which 44.3% were male) in northern Chinese cities. We used a standard spirometer to determine lung function. Serum CTSB and CYSC levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: For all participants, serum CTSB was related to maximum vital capacity (VC MAX), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s, peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory flow at 25% of FVC, forced expiratory volume in 3 s (FEV3), and inspiratory vital capacity (VC IN). These associations were lost after full adjustment. CYSC remained significantly associated with inspiratory capacity (IC), breath frequency (BF; p < 0.001), minute ventilation (MV), the ratio of FEV3 and FVC (FEV3%FVC), and expiratory reserve volume ( p < 0.05) after adjusting for all other possible confounders. In males, serum CYSC levels exhibited significant and independent associations with FVC, FEV3 ( p < 0.05), and IC ( p < 0.001) and serum CTSB levels exhibited significant and independent associations with BF ( p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results confirmed serum CYSC concentration associations with an age-related lung function in healthy people. However, the association between serum CTSB and lung function was not well confirmed. Serum measurements of CYSC may provide valuable predictors of pulmonary function in healthy people, especially healthy elderly adults. The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.

Endovascular embolization can selectively deploy embolic agents into diseased or injured blood vessels to complete the treatment. However, traditional embolic agents still face challenges, such as poor intravascular diffusivity, non‐biodegradable, unstable mechanical properties, radiolucency, and recanalization. Herein,  we report a poly (lipoic acid‐tannic acid)/tromethamine/Galinstan (PLTTG) dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution‐derived hydrogel liquid embolic agent. By injecting PLTTG DMSO solution into body fluids, a PLTTG hydrogel can be formed in situ owing to the solvent exchange induced intra‐ and inter‐polymer hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. Moreover, the gelation time and injection forces of the solution as well as the mechanical properties and embolic pressure of the obtained hydrogels can be adjusted by changing the concentration of PLTTG. The PLTTG hydrogel can effectively embolize the renal artery and femoral vein without recanalization and displacement in rabbit models. Furthermore, the hydrogel can embolize the ruptured femoral artery to arrest active bleeding. Owing to the advantages of the hydrogel, including adjustable gelation time, mechanical properties, viscosities, injection forces, and embolic pressure, as well as good biocompatibility and biodegradability, radiopacity, excellent embolization performance and intravascular diffusivity, easy usage, low cost, allowing it to be a potential embolic agent to treat multiple vascular diseases in clinic.

Background and Aims: Globally, coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is persistent in many countries and presents a major threat to public health. Critically, elderly individuals, especially those with underlying disease, poor nutritional and immune functions, are highly susceptible. Therefore, we analyzed the epidemiological features in elderly COVID-19 patients.Methods: In total, 126 patients were recruited in the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China from January 2020 to March 2020 (including 103 confirmed COVID-19 patients and 23 elderly suspected cases). Epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and treatment data were collected and analyzed. We assessed nutritional risks in elderly patients by calculating the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI).Results: When compared with young patients, elderly patients were more likely to have underlying comorbidities and received nutritional support and intensive care unit treatment. Elderly patients had significantly lower levels of the following: lymphocyte percentages, red blood cell counts, hemoglobin levels, and serum albumin values. When compared with suspected COVID-19 elderly cases, elderly patients had significantly lower red blood cell counts and hemoglobin levels. The average GNRI of suspected cases and confirmed patients indicated no nutritional risk. There were no marked differences in GNRI values between groups. Conclusion:Nutritional risk assessments may provide valuable information for predicting a COVID-19 prognosis, especially in elderly patients. Anemia prevention and management should be actively and timely provided. GNRI is a potentially prognostic factor for hospitalized elderly patients. Moreover, it is also important to follow up discharged patients for continuous nutritional observations.