Analysis on the factors associated with COVID-19 infection among Chinese residents after the implementation of the 10 new rules to optimize COVID-19 response: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate the status of COVID-19 infection and the associated factors among Chinese residents after the implementation of the 10 New Rules to optimize COVID response.MethodsParticipants were recruited using convenience sampling. The study used self-filled questionnaires to examine COVID-19 infection and associated factors among Chinese residents, from December 29, 2022, to January 2, 2023. For the statistical analysis, descriptive and quantitative analyses were used. The potential risk factors for COVID-19 infection were identified by multivariable logistic regression analysis.ResultsAfter the adjustments in control strategies against COVID-19, the infection rate of COVID-19 was high among respondents, and 98.4% of individuals who tested positive showed symptoms including cough, fever, fatigue, headache, sore throat, nasal congestion, sputum production, muscle and joint pain, and runny nose. The main problems respondents reported were the shortage of drugs and medical supplies, the increased burden on families, and the unreliable information source of COVID-19 infection. Logistic regression showed that isolating patients with COVID-19 at home was associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 infection (OR = 0.58, 95%CI: 0.42–0.81).ConclusionCOVID-19 infection among residents is closely related to age, gender, and epidemic prevention measures. The government needs to strengthen education for individuals and centrally manage and properly address difficulties that may arise during COVID-19

Surface Effects on Anisotropic Photoluminescence in One-Dimensional Organic Metal Halide Hybrids

One-dimensional (1D) organic metal halide hybrids exhibit strongly anisotropic optical properties, highly efficient light emission, and large Stokes shift, holding promises for novel photodetection and lighting applications. However, the fundamental mechanisms governing their unique optical properties and in particular the impacts of surface effects are not understood. Here, we investigate 1D C4N2H14PbBr4 by polarization-dependent time-averaged and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopy, as a function of photoexcitation energy. Surprisingly, we find that the emission under photoexcitation polarized parallel to the 1D metal halide chains can be either stronger or weaker than that under perpendicular polarization, depending on the excitation energy. We attribute the excitation-energy-dependent anisotropic emission to fast surface recombination, supported by first-principles calculations of optical absorption in this material. The fast surface recombination is directly confirmed by TRPL measurements, when the excitation is polarized parallel to the chains. Our comprehensive studies provide a more complete picture for a deeper understanding of the optical anisotropy in 1D organic metal halide hybrids

Fe-biochar as a safe and efficient catalyst to activate peracetic acid for the removal of the acid orange dye from water

International audiencePollution of wastewater and natural waters by organic contaminants is a major health issue, yet actual remediation methods are limited by incomplete removal of recalcitrant contaminants and by secondary pollution by chlorinated contaminants and catalytic metals. To attempt to solve these issues, we tested the removal of acid orange by peracetic acid (PAA), a safe oxidant, activated by Fe-biochar that iron anchored on biochar to prevent secondary pollution by iron. Fe-biochar was synthesized using a simple, one-step pyrolysis method. We investigated the effects of PAA concentration, pH, humic acids, chloride, bicarbonate on the reaction. Radical quenching and electron paramagnetic resonance were used to identify reacting species. Results showed that the granulous structure of Fe-biochar and the presence of Fe, Fe3O4, Fe2O3, and Fe3C on Fe-biochar surface. The highest removal of acid orange of 99.9% was obtained with 1.144 mM PAA and 0.3 g/L Fe-biochar at pH 7. Acid orange removal increases with Fe-biochar dose, decreases with pH, is slightly inhibited by humic acids and bicarbonate, and is not modified by chloride. Our experimental results suggested that CH3C(O)OO⋅ and CH3C(O)O⋅ are the main radical species, but there may also be non-radical effects in Fe-biochar/PAA process. Fe-biochar displayed high re-usability, with 92.8% removal after five uses

Association between the HER2 Gene Status and the Efficacy of First-line Pemetrexed Combined with Platinum Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma

Background and objective Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is one of the driver genes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several studies have shown that the efficacy of pemetrexed in HER2-mutant NSCLC is controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of pemetrexed combined with platinum chemotherapy in patients with HER2-mutant and HER2 wild-type lung adenocarcinoma. Methods The clinical data of 106 cases of EGFR, ALK, ROS-1, KRAS, BRAF, RET and MET-negative patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients who diagnosed by histopathology in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were retrospectively reviewed. The relationships between HER2 gene status, clinical characteristics and response and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. Results All of the 106 patients’ HER2 status were determined. HER2 mutations occurred in 32 cases (30.2%), no mutations in 74 cases (69.8%). HER2 mutations were common in young, non-smoking and female patients. All patients received first-line pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy. The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) of patients with HER2-mutant lung adenocarcinoma were significantly higher than those without HER2 mutations (40.6% vs 14.9%, χ2=8.464, P=0.004; 93.8% vs 68.9%, χ2=6.327, P=0.012), and the difference was statistically significant. According to univariate analysis, the PFS was significantly associated with the brain metastases, maintenance chemotherapy and HER2 gene status (P0.05). Cox multivariate analysis indicated that HER2 mutation was an independent positive prognostic factor of PFS (P=0.038). Conclusion HER2-mutant lung adenocarcinoma patients with first-line pemetrexed combined with platinum chemotherapy have greater clinical benefit than HER2 wild-type patients

Review of Advanced Oxidation Processes Based on Peracetic Acid for Organic Pollutants

In recent years, the removal of organic pollutants from water and wastewater has attracted more attention to different advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). There has been increasing interest in using peroxyacetic acid (PAA), an emerging oxidant with low or no toxic by-products, yet the promotion and application are limited by unclear activation mechanisms and complex preparation processes. This paper synthesized the related research results reported on the removal of organic pollutants by PAA-based AOPs. Based on the research of others, this paper not only introduced the preparation method and characteristics of PAA but also summarized the mechanism and reactivity of PAA activated by the free radical pathway and discussed the main influencing factors. Furthermore, the principle and application of the newly discovered methods of non-radical activation of PAA in recent years were also reviewed for the first time. Finally, the shortcomings and development of PAA-based AOPs were discussed and prospected. This review provides a reference for the development of activated PAA technology that can be practically applied to the treatment of organic pollutants in water

Characteristics of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor with Rare Mutations in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and the Effect of EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors on Them

Background and objective Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. It has been clinically evaluated that therapiestargeting against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as the clinical standard first-line treatment. The response and outcome of EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients harboring common mutations in EGFR kinase domain (deletion in exon19 and L858R in exon 21) has been well demonstrated, but not in rare or complex mutations. Methods A total of 150 patients that harbored rare or complex mutations in EGFR diagnosed by histopathology were included in this retrospective study. The clinical-pathological characteristics of all 150 patients as well as the response and progression-free survival (PFS) in 48 patients that received EGFR-TKIs in first/second/third line treatments weredescribed and analyzed. Results Patients were divided into four groups based on the mutation types: single G719X point mutation in exon 18 (n=46, 30.7%), single L861Q point mutation in exon 21 (n=45, 30.0%), other single rare mutation (n=14, 9.3%) and complex mutations (n=45, 30.0%). The result indicated thatthere was no correlation of EGFR mutation typeswith other parameters such as gender, age, clinical stage, pathology and smoking history. For the 48 patients that received EGFR-TKIs treatment, there were no significant differencesamong 4 groups in terms of objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) (54.5% vs 30.0% vs 0.0% vs 35.7%, χ2=3.200, P=0.34; 90.9% vs 85.0% vs 66.7% vs 92.9%, χ2=2.162, P=0.59). The median progress-free survival (mPFS) was 11.0 months (95%CI: 4.4-17.6), and in each group of different EGFR mutation types are 15.8 months (95%CI: 9.5-22.2), 8.0 months (95%CI: 5.1-11.0), 4.9 months (95%CI: 1.4-8.4) and 23.1 months (95%CI: 15.8-30.4)(χ2=7.876, P=0.049). Conclusion The efficiency of targeting EGFR-TKIs on different types of rare or complex mutations was heterogeneous. The PFS may be better in patients that harbored complex mutations than those with single rare mutations. Further studies with larger sample size are necessary. Moreover, to discover novel therapeutic targets and develop new drugs are imminentfor those patientswith no response to the existing treatments

Degradation of sulfapyridine antibiotics by chlorination in a pilot-scale water distribution system: kinetics, THMs, and DFT studies

International audienceSulfonamides have been proved to damage organisms if the contact time last over the long term. We studied the degradation kinetic of sulfapyridine in the chlorination stage of a pilot-scale water distribution system. Results show that the degradation of sulfapyridine simultaneously followed the first-order and pseudo second-order kinetics. In the beakers tests or water distribution system, the reaction rate reaches maximum values when the pH is about 7. The degradation rate of sulfapyridine would be higher with the increase of water velocity in the water distribution system. Degradation experiments in different pipe materials show that degradation efficiency is in the following order: stainless-steel pipe > ductile iron pipe > polyethylene pipe. We observed a significant increase in the content of trihalomethanes when chlorination of tap water-containing sulfapyridine were performed in both the water distribution system and beakers. The mechanism of this process was analyzed in combination with the intermediate products. In addition, density functional theory calculations were performed to assist in the identification of 6 intermediates and possible degradation pathways

Aging Process of Microplastics in the Aquatic Environments: Aging Pathway, Characteristic Change, Compound Effect, and Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals Formation

Plastic wastes are becoming one of the most serious environmental pollutants because of their high antidegradation properties and the damage they cause to human health. More seriously, plastics can become smaller in size and form microplastics (MPs), attributing to the oxidation, weathering, and fragmentation processes. The influx of MPs into water bodies seriously affects the quality of the aquatic environment. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize the aging process of MPs. In this review, we first provided an overview of the definition and source of MPs. Then we analyzed the potential aging pathways of MPs in the current aquatic environment and elaborated on the changes in the physicochemical properties of MPs during the aging process (e.g., particle size, crystallinity, thermodynamic properties, and surface functional groups). In addition, the possible synergistic contamination of MPs with other pollutants in the environment is illustrated. Finally, the mechanisms of generation and toxicity of environmental persistent free radicals (EPFRs) that may be generated during the photoaging of MPs were described, and the feasibility of using photoaged MPs as photosensitizers to catalyze photoreactive degradation of organic pollutants is proposed. Overall, this review provides a comprehensive and objective evaluation of the behavior of MPs in the aquatic environment