Sex differences in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Accumulated evidence revealed that male was much more likely to higher severity and fatality by SARS-CoV-2 infection than female patients, but few studies and meta-analyses have evaluated the sex differences of the infection and progression of COVID-19 patients. AIM: We aimed to compare the sex differences of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics in COVID-19 patients; and to perform a meta-analysis evaluating the severe rate, fatality rate, and the sex differences of the infection and disease progression in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We analyzed clinical data of patients in Changchun Infectious Hospital and Center, Changchun, Northeast China; and searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library without any language restrictions for published articles that reported the data of sex-disaggregated, number of severe, and death patients on the confirmed diagnosis of adult COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: The pooled severe rate and fatality rate of COVID-19 were 22.7% and 10.7%. Male incidence in the retrospective study was 58.1%, and the pooled incidence in male was 54.7%. CONCLUSION: The pooled severe rate in male and female of COVID-19 was 28.2% and 18.8%, the risky of severe and death was about 1.6folds higher in male compared with female, especially for older patients (> 50 y)

Overexpression of CX3CR1 in Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Promotes Cell Migration and Functional Recovery After Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Stem cell therapy has emerged as a new promising therapeutic strategy for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). However, the efficiency of stem cell therapy is partially limited by low retention and engraftment of the delivered cells. Therefore, it’s necessary to improve the migration ability of stem cells to the injured area in order to save the costs and duration of cell preparation. This study aimed to investigate whether overexpression of CX3CR1, the specific receptor of chemokine fractalkine (FKN), in adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) can stimulate the cell migration to the injured area in the brain, improve functional recovery and protect against cell death following experimental ICH. ADSCs were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissues of rats. ICH was induced by means of an injection of collagenase type VII. ELISA showed that the expression levels of fractalkine/FKN were increased at early time points, with a peak at day 3 after ICH. And it was found that different passages of ADSCs could express the chemokine receptor CX3CR1. Besides, the chemotactic movements of ADSCs toward fractalkine have been verified by transwell migration assay. ADSCs overexpressing CX3CR1 were established through lentivirus transfection. We found that after overexpression of CX3CR1 receptor, the migration ability of ADSCs was increased both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, reduced cell death and improved sensory and motor functions were seen in the mice ICH model. Thus, ADSCs overexpression CX3CR1 might be taken as a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ICH

Clonal evolution in liver cancer at single-cell and single-variant resolution.

Genetic heterogeneity of tumor is closely related to its clonal evolution, phenotypic diversity and treatment resistance, and such heterogeneity has only been characterized at single-cell sub-chromosomal scale in liver cancer. Here we reconstructed the single-variant resolution clonal evolution in human liver cancer based on single-cell mutational profiles. The results indicated that key genetic events occurred early during tumorigenesis, and an early metastasis followed by independent evolution was observed in primary liver tumor and intrahepatic metastatic portal vein tumor thrombus. By parallel single-cell RNA-Seq, the transcriptomic phenotype of HCC was found to be related with genetic heterogeneity. For the first time we reconstructed the single-cell and single-variant clonal evolution in human liver cancer, and dissection of both genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity will facilitate better understanding of their relationship

Bioprotonics: Memories, Transistors, and pH Modulators

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2015Protons (H+) play an important role in controlling cell function and metabolic processes in biological systems. H+ current affects a broad range of biological activities, from ATP synthesis in mitochondria[1] to neuron signaling in the brain.[2, 3] Being able to control H+ transfer with artificial devices would provide new opportunities to study the effect of H+ on biological functions. This understanding will be vital in the development of novel therapies and sensors based on proton flux. This thesis focuses on controlling H+ transfer in biopolymers with artificial devices. I first study the dynamics of palladium hydride (PdHx) as H+ injecting contacts and its use in protonic conducting devices. Two terminal devices with PdHx contacts display memory behavior. With PdHx as contacts, a polysaccharide integrated field effect transistor measures and modulates the flow of H+. By changing the gate voltage, this H+ conducting channel can be turned on or off. In analogous to semiconductors, a proton semi-conductor model is developed to describe H+ conduction. At last, I look at the applications of such H+ conducting devices for pH modulation in solution

Big five personality influences trajectories of information seeking behavior

This article reports results of a study observing how big-five personality traits influence the trajectories of information-seeking adaptive behaviors among university freshmen. Data are collected from 409 freshmen at a Chinese university at 3, 5, 7, and 9 months after university enrollment. A latent growth mixture model is applied to reveal four trajectories of information-seeking behaviors: high or low maintaining, downward or upward. When the information-seeking trajectories are related to personality traits, openness and agreeableness are associated with high maintaining, while agreeableness is associated with downward trajectories. The study provides strong empirical evidence supporting the Minnesota theory of work adjustment and provides important insights to practitioners who want to enhance newcomer adjustment at all organizations

Design of an optical reference cavity with low thermal noise limit and flexible thermal expansion properties

An ultra-stable optical reference cavity with re-entrant fused silica mirrors and a ULE (Ultra Low Expansion) spacer structure is designed for the ultranarrow clock laser for an Al+ optical standard. The designed cavity has a low thermal noise limit of 1 × 10-16 and a flexible zero crossing temperature of the effective coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). The CTE zero crossing temperature difference between a composite cavity and a pure ULE cavity can be tuned from  −10°C to 23°C, which enables operation of the designed reference cavity near room temperature without worrying about the CTE zero crossing temperature of the ULE spacer. This design can also be applied to cavities with different lengths. Vibration immunity of the cavity is also achieved through structure optimization

White Upconversion Luminescence Nanocrystals for the Simultaneous and Selective Detection of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene and 2,4,6-Trinitrophenol

A highly water stable and strong upconversion (UC) luminescence NaYF₄@PSI–NH nanosensor for the simultaneous and selective detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) was successfully developed. Via the 980 nm near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, these nanosensors emit strong white UC luminescence with five typical emission peaks centered at 363, 455, 475, 546, and 654 nm. The UC emission at both 363 and 546 nm was quenched by the addition of TNT; however, the ratio of luminescence intensity at 363 nm to 546 nm (<i>I</i>₃₆₃/<i>I</i>₅₄₆) had no change with the increase of TNT concentration. Meanwhile, only violet UC emission at 363 nm was dramatically quenched via the addition of TNP, and the <i>I</i>₃₆₃/<i>I</i>₅₄₆ ratio is negatively proportional to the TNP concentration in the range of 0.01–4.5 μg/mL of TNP. On the other hand, the green UC emission intensity at 546 nm is in negative proportion to the concentration of TNT. Moreover, cyclohexane, toluene, and other nitroaromatics (such as 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT) and nitrobenzene (NB)) have no influence on the detection. Therefore, we developed a facile method for the simultaneous and selective detection of TNT and TNP in the mixture solution of nitroaromatics independent of complicated instruments and sample pretreatment

Thermal kinetics, thermodynamics, decomposition mechanism, and thermal safety performance of typical ammonium perchlorate-based molecular perovskite energetic materials

In this work, we reported that the thermal kinetics, thermodynamics, and decomposition mechanism of AP-based molecular perovskite energetic materials were studied, and their thermal safety performance was estimated. Typical AP-based molecular perovskite energetic materials (H2dabco)[NH4(ClO4)3] (DAP-4), (H2pz)[NH4(ClO4)3](PAP-4),(H2mpz)[NH4(ClO4)3](PAP-M4), and (H2hpz)[NH4(ClO4)3] (PAP-H4) were synthesized and characterized. These were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results show all of the obtained AP-based molecular perovskite energetic materials have higher thermal decomposition temperatures, and the peak temperatures are more than 360 C. And all follow the random nucleation and growth model.Other thermodynamic parameters, such as reaction enthalpy (ΔH), entropy change (ΔS), and free energy (ΔG) show that they are generally thermodynamically stable. Moreover, their adiabatic induced temperatures were obtained, TD24 of DAP-4, PAP-4, PAP-M4, and PAP-H4 are 246.6, 201.2, 194.5, and 217.5C, respectively. The work offered an important and in-depth understanding for the thermal decomposition characteristics of AP-based molecular perovskite energetic materials and their potential applications.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Paracrine Secreted Frizzled-Related Protein 4 Inhibits Melanocytes Differentiation in Hair Follicle

Wnt signaling plays crucial role in regulating melanocyte stem cells/melanocyte differentiation in the hair follicle. However, how the Wnt signaling is balanced to be overactivated to control follicular melanocytes behavior remains unknown. Here, by using immunofluorescence staining, we showed that secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (sFRP4) is preferentially expressed in the skin epidermal cells rather than in melanocytes. By overexpression of sFRP4 in skin cells in vivo and in vitro, we found that sFRP4 attenuates activation of Wnt signaling, resulting in decrease of melanocytes differentiation in the regenerating hair follicle. Our findings unveiled a new regulator that involves modulating melanocytes differentiation through a paracrine mechanism in hair follicle, supplying a hope for potential therapeutic application to treat skin pigmentation disorders