Trends in characteristics and outcomes among US adults hospitalised with COVID-19 throughout 2020: An observational cohort study

Objectives To examine the temporal patterns of patient characteristics, treatments used and outcomes associated with COVID-19 in patients who were hospitalised for the disease between January and 15 November 2020. Design Observational cohort study. Setting COVID-19 subset of the Optum deidentified electronic health records, including more than 1.8 million patients from across the USA. Participants There were 51 510 hospitalised patients who met the COVID-19 definition, with 37 617 in the laboratory positive cohort and 13 893 in the clinical cohort. Primary and secondary outcome measures Incident acute clinical outcomes, including in-hospital all-cause mortality. Results Respectively, 48% and 49% of the laboratory positive and clinical cohorts were women. The 50- 65 age group was the median age group for both cohorts. The use of antivirals and dexamethasone increased over time, fivefold and twofold, respectively, while the use of hydroxychloroquine declined by 98%. Among adult patients in the laboratory positive cohort, absolute age/sex standardised incidence proportion for in-hospital death changed by -0.036 per month (95% CI -0.042 to -0.031) from March to June 2020, but remained fairly flat from June to November, 2020 (0.001 (95% CI -0.001 to 0.003), 17.5% (660 deaths /3986 persons) in March and 10.2% (580/5137) in October); in the clinical cohort, the corresponding changes were -0.024 (95% CI -0.032 to -0.015) and 0.011 (95% CI 0.007 0.014), respectively (14.8% (175/1252) in March, 15.3% (189/1203) in October). Declines in the cumulative incidence of most acute clinical outcomes were observed in the laboratory positive cohort, but not for the clinical cohort. Conclusion The incidence of adverse clinical outcomes remains high among COVID-19 patients with clinical diagnosis only. Patients with COVID-19 entering the hospital are at elevated risk of adverse outcomes

In-situ-Sanierung kohlenwasserstoffbelasteter Boeden. Bd. 3 Limitierende geologische Parameter beim mikrobiellen KW-Abbau in klastischen Sedimenten. Abschlussbericht

In clays and clayey soil of different composition, the capacity for absorbing gas-works-specific and environmentally relevant hydrocarbons and associated microstructure changes were investigated by means of column and batch experiments. Striking differences were observed both as to the absorption capacity and absorption behaviour of the clays and the investigated hydrocarbons, which testifies to the complexity of the subject. Contact of water-saturated clays with non-polar hydrocarbons entailed marked shrinking with increasing contamination of the soil samples. The sensitivity of clays increases as the cation exchange capacity of the dominant clay mineral decreases. Owing to the contraction of the contact water film of the clay. (orig./EF)An verschieden zusammengesetzten Tonen und tonigen Boeden wurde unter Verwendung von Saeulen- und Batchversuchen das Adsorptionsvermoegen gegenueber gaswerksspezifischen und umweltrelevanten Kohlenwasserstoffen und die damit verbundenen Mikrogefuegeaenderungen untersucht. Dabei zeigten sich deutliche Unterschiede, sowohl in der Adsorptionskapazitaet, wie auch in dem Adsorptionsverhalten der Tone bzw. der untersuchten Kohlenwasserstoffe und belegt die Komplexitaet des Themenbereiches. Der Kontakt wassergesaettigter Tone mit unpolaren Kohlenwasserstoffen fuehrte zu einer deutlichen Schrumpfung mit steigender Kontamination der Bodenproben. Die Empfindlichkeit der Tone steigt mit abnehmender Kationenaustauschkapazitaet des dominierenden Tonmineralgehaltes. Durch die Kontraktion des Haftwasserfilmes der Tonminerale werden bevorzugte Wegigkeiten in Form von Schrumpfrissen und Makroporen geoeffnet. Die Durchlaessigkeit steigt sprunghaft auf sehr hohe Werte an, die Konvektion dominiert den Prozess. (orig./EF)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F94B0523+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Forschung und Technologie (BMFT), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman