Risk factors of critical & mortal COVID-19 cases: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

Currently, the number of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has increased rapidly, but relationship between comorbidity and patients with COVID-19 still not clear. The aim was to explore whether the presence of common comorbidities increases COVID-19 patients' risk. A literature search was performed using the electronic platforms (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and other databases) to obtain relevant research studies published up to March 1, 2020. Relevant data of research endpoints in each study were extracted and merged. All data analysis was performed using Stata12.0 software. A total of 1558 patients with COVID-19 in 6 studies were enrolled in our meta-analysis eventually. Hypertension (OR: 2.29, P<0.001), diabetes (OR: 2.47, P<0.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR: 5.97, P<0.001), cardiovascular disease (OR: 2.93, P<0.001), and cerebrovascular disease (OR:3.89, P=0.002)were independent risk factors associated with COVID-19 patients. The meta-analysis revealed no correlation between increased risk of COVID-19 and liver disease, malignancy, or renal disease. Hypertension, diabetes, COPD, cardiovascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease are major risk factors for patients with COVID-19. Knowledge of these risk factors can be a resource for clinicians in the early appropriate medical management of patients with COVID-19.

Does comorbidity increase the risk of patients with COVID-19: evidence from meta-analysis.

Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Importance The current rapid worldwide spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection justifies the global effort to identify effective preventive strategies and optimal medical management. While data are available for adult patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), limited reports have analyzed pediatric patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Objective To evaluate currently reported pediatric cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Evidence Review An extensive search strategy was designed to retrieve all articles published from December 1, 2019, to March 3, 2020, by combining the termscoronavirusandcoronavirus infectionin several electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL), and following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. Retrospective cross-sectional and case-control studies, case series and case reports, bulletins, and national reports about the pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. The risk of bias for eligible observational studies was assessed according to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology reporting guideline. Findings A total of 815 articles were identified. Eighteen studies with 1065 participants (444 patients were younger than 10 years, and 553 were aged 10 to 19 years) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in the final analysis. All articles reflected research performed in China, except for 1 clinical case in Singapore. Children at any age were mostly reported to have mild respiratory symptoms, namely fever, dry cough, and fatigue, or were asymptomatic. Bronchial thickening and ground-glass opacities were the main radiologic features, and these findings were also reported in asymptomatic patients. Among the included articles, there was only 1 case of severe COVID-19 infection, which occurred in a 13-month-old infant. No deaths were reported in children aged 0 to 9 years. Available data about therapies were limited. Conclusions and Relevance To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review that assesses and summarizes clinical features and management of children with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe and the lack of European and US data on pediatric patients require further epidemiologic and clinical studies to identify possible preventive and therapeutic strategies.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/articlepdf/2765169/jamapediatrics_castagnoli_2020_rv_200005_1598544887.48635.pdf

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

COVID-19: Abnormal liver function tests.

Characteristics of COVID-19 infection in Beijing.

Background: Since the first case of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection pneumonia was detected in Wuhan, China, a series of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 were found in Beijing. We analyzed the data of 262 confirmed cases to determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in Beijing. 

Methods: We collected patients who were transferred by Beijing Emergency Medical Sevice to the designated hospitals. The information on demographic, epidemiological, clinical, laboratory test for the COVID-19 virus, diagnostic classification, cluster case and outcome were obtained. Furthermore we compared the characteristics between severe and common confirmed cases which including mild cases, no-pneumonia cases and asymptomatic cases, and we also compared the features between COVID-19 and 2003 SARS. 

Findings: By Feb 10, 2020, 262 patients were transferred from the hospitals across Beijing to the designated hospitals for special treatment of the COVID-19 infected by Beijing emergency medical service. Among of 262 patients, 46 (17.6%) were severe cases, 216 (82.4%) were common cases, which including 192 (73.3%) mild cases, 11(4.2%) non-pneumonia cases and 13 (5.0%) asymptomatic cases respectively. The median age of patients was 47.5 years old and 48.5% were male. 192 (73.3%) patients were residents of Beijing, 50 (26.0%) of which had been to Wuhan, 116 (60.4%) had close contact with confirmed cases, 21 (10.9%) had no contact history. The most common symptoms at the onset of illness were fever (82.1% ), cough (45.8%), fatigue (26.3%), dyspnea (6.9%) and headache (6.5%). The median incubation period was 6.7 days, the interval time from between illness onset and seeing a doctor was 4.5 days. As of Feb 10, 17.2% patients have discharged and 81.7% patients remain in hospital in our study, the fatality of COVID-19 infection in Beijing was 0.9%. 

Interpretation: On the basis of this study, we provided the ratio of the COVID-19 infection on the severe cases to the mild, asymptomatic and non-pneumonia cases in Beijing. Population was generally susceptible, and with a relatively low fatality rate. The measures to prevent transmission was very successful at early stage, the next steps on the COVID-19 infection should be focused on early isolation of patients and quarantine for close contacts in families and communities in Beijing. 

Funding Statement: This study was supported by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project (Z191100004419003) and the National Science and Technology Fundamental Resources Investigation Project (2018FY100600). 

Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics Approval Statement: The study was approved by Ethics Committee of Beijing Emergency Medical Center (No.2020- 01) and the written informed consent was waived because of the retrospective nature of the study and belongs to emergency medical service.

Characteristics of COVID-19 Infection In Beijing

Abstract The overall optical efficiency of backlight-based liquid crystal displays (LCDs) is less than 5% due to the loss of backlight source by polarizers, color filter, liquid crystal layer and so on. Self-emissive light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been undergoing huge development due to their substantial market potentials to meet the demand of future display. More importantly, the polarized LEDs could enhance the energy utilization efficiency by avoiding light loss caused by polarizers. Therefore, it is desirable to look for effective methods to assemble high-quality anisotropic nanomaterial films so as to fabricate polarized LEDs with high degree of polarization and external quantum efficiency. Here, the photoelectrical properties of some semiconductor nanomaterials and their potential applications for polarized LEDs are introduced. The research progress in the field of polarized light emission from materials to films and then to LEDs is reviewed. Mechanisms of polarized emission, and different assembly strategies for polarized light emitting films and LEDs are also summarized and compared. Finally, several current challenges are discussed, and perspectives on future potential commercial application of polarized LEDs are offered. We hope this review will provide a valuable summary on current status and stimulate some new insightful ideas for future development of polarized LEDs. 

/pdf/semiconductor-nanomaterial-based-polarized-light-emission-17ukpmsp.pdf

Yongliang Zhang

Papers

Characteristics of COVID-19 infection in Beijing.

Characteristics of COVID-19 Infection In Beijing

Semiconductor nanomaterial-based polarized light emission: From materials to light emitting diodes