Novel reassortant H7N9 viruses were associated with severe and fatal respiratory disease in three patients. (Funded by the National Basic Research Program of China and others.).

Background: Recently, dyslipidaemia was observed in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in severe cases. This study aimed to explore the predictive value of blood lipid levels for COVID-19 severity. Methods: All patients with COVID-19 admitted to HwaMei Hospital, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, from January 23 to April 20, 2020, were included in this retrospective study. General clinical characteristics and laboratory data (including blood lipid parameters) were obtained, and their predictive values for the severity were analysed. Results: In total, 142 consecutive patients with COVID-19 were included. The non-severe group included 125 cases, and 17 cases were included in the severe group. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) at baseline were signi cantly lower in the severe group. ApoA1 and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were recognized as independent risk factors for COVID-19 severity. ApoA1 had the highest area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) among all the single markers (AUC: 0.896, 95% CI: 0.834-0.941). Moreover, the risk model established using ApoA1 and IL-6 enhanced the predictive value (AUC: 0.977, 95% CI: 0.932-0.995). On the other hand, ApoA1 levels were elevated in the severe group during treatment, and there was no signi cant difference between the severe and non-severe groups during the recovery stage of the disease. Conclusion: The blood lipid pro le in severe COVID-19 patients is quite different from that in non-severe cases. Serum ApoA1 could severe as a good indictor to re ect the severity of COVID-19.

The beginning of the twenty-rst century has been marked by three distinct waves of zoonotic coronavirus outbreaks into the human population. The current pandemic COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). With a rapid infection rate, it is a global threat endangering the livelihoods of millions worldwide. Currently, and despite the collaborative efforts of governments, researchers, and the pharmaceutical industries, there are no substantially signi cant treatment protocols for the disease. To address the need for such an immediate call of action, we leveraged the largest dataset of drug-induced transcriptomic perturbations, public SARS-CoV-2 transcriptomic datasets, and expression pro les from normal lung transcriptomes. Our unbiased systems biology approach not only shed light on previously unexplored molecular details of SARS-CoV-2 infection (e.g., interferon signaling, in ammation and ACE2 co-expression hallmarks in normal and infected lungs) but most importantly prioritized more than 50 repurposable drug candidates (e.g., Corticosteroids, Janus kinase and Bruton kinase inhibitors). Further clinical investigation of these FDA approved candidates as monotherapy or in combination with an antiviral regimen (e.g., Remdesivir) could lead to promising outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

We report the use of seed-mediated growth as a simple and versatile approach to the synthesis of penta-twinned Cu nanorods with uniform diameters and controllable aspect ratios. The success of this approach relies on our recently demonstrated synthesis of Pd decahedra as uniform samples, together with tightly controlled sizes in the range of 6-20 nm. When employed as a seed, the Pd decahedron can direct the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of Cu along the five-fold axis to produce a nanorod with a uniform diameter defined by the lateral dimension of the original seed.Due to a large mismatch in lattice constant between Cu and Pd (7.1%), the deposited Cu is forced to grow only along one side of the Pd decahedral seed, generating a nanorod with an asymmetric distribution of Cu, with the Pd seed being situated at one of the two ends. According to their extinction spectra, the as-obtained Cu nanorods could form a stable colloidal suspension in water and be stored in a capped vial under the ambient conditions for at least 6 months without noticeable degradation. This excellent stability allows us to systematically investigate the sizedependent surface plasmon resonance properties of the penta-twinned Cu nanorods. With their transverse modes being positioned at 560 nm, their longitudinal modes can be readily tuned from the visible to the near-infrared region by controlling their aspect ratios.

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The synthesis of water-soluble near-infrared (NIR)-emitting quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous solution has received much attention recently. However, the stabilizer 3-mercaptopropionic acid, commonly used in the synthesis of NIR-emitting QDs, is notorious for its toxicity and awful odor. Here we chose thiol ligand N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) as the ideal stabilizer and have successfully employed it to synthesize high-quality NIRemitting CdTe/CdS QDs in a one-step process via a simple hydrothermal route. NAC possesses favorable properties such as nontoxic, nonvolatile, inexpensive, and good water-solubility. Our as-prepared NIR-emitting CdTe/CdS QDs exhibit high photoluminescence quantum yields (45-62%), narrow full-width at half-maximum, and high photostability, thanks to the formation of a protective CdS shell on the CdTe core through the decomposition of NAC in the hydrothermal route under high temperature. The prepared QDs can be applied for bioimaging due to its excellent water-solubility and biological compatibility. The core/shell structure of the NIR-emitting CdTe/CdS QDs was verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and X-ray powder diffraction. The formation mechanism of these QDs is discussed in detail.

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This article describes a seed-mediated approach to the synthesis of Ag nanorods with thin diameters and tunable aspect ratios. The success of this method is built upon our recent progress in the synthesis of Pd decahedra as uniform samples, together with controllable sizes. When used as a seed, the Pd decahedron could direct the deposition of Ag atoms along the 5-fold axis to generate a nanorod, with its diameter being determined by the lateral dimension of the seed. We were able to generate Ag nanorods with uniform diameters down to 20 nm. Under the conditions we used for growth, symmetry breaking occurred as the Ag atoms were only deposited along one side of the Pd decahedral seed to generate a Ag nanorod with the Pd seed being positioned at one of its two ends. We also systematically investigated the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) properties of the Ag nanorods. With the transverse mode kept below 400 nm, the longitudinal mode could be readily tuned from the visible to the near-infrared region by varying the aspect ratio. As an important demonstration, we obtained Ag nanorods with no LSPR peak in the visible spectrum (400-800 nm), which are attractive for applications related to the fabrication of touchscreen displays, solar films, and energy-saving smart windows.